Survey reveals expectation for protracted recovery across North America with a changing landscape for the future
The pandemic will change many elements of our lives forever and business leaders are not expecting things to return to ‘normal’ once the crisis is over.
A survey of business executives by Toronto-based executive search firm Caldwell shows that hopes of a quick bounceback for the economy is a pipedream.
Most respondents expect that it will take at least 12 months for revenues to return to pre-COVID levels including 42% who say it will take 12-24 months, 14% expecting it to take longer than 24 months. Just 5% say their revenues haven’t been affected while 1% say their industry is changed forever.
More than nine in ten executives said that they expect their business model to change at least slightly, with 31% saying it will change significantly and 2% forecasting a complete reinvention of the business.
Work practices to change forever
As well as revenues, the way that we work is unlikely to be quite the same again.
An overwhelming majority of 91% of respondents expect to continue to allow employees to work from home at least some of the time and most said their employees would prefer to do so at least 50% of the time.
Asked about their boardrooms, more than half did not think the pandemic will lead to changes.
Roughly half felt their board's diversity and inclusion program is good, a third felt their diversity and inclusion program is not acceptable, but the board is working on strengthening it, and 12% responded that their program is not acceptable and there are no plans to improve it.
