MADRID, 5 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -
61% of businessmen expect to increase their sales revenue in 2023, ten percentage points more than in October, in line with the improvement in economic expectations for this year, according to the Confidence Index Report, prepared by the advisory organization Vistage executive.
Although the majority of the businessmen surveyed, 15 women and 64 men between the ages of 30 and 65, are optimistic, 26% of those 79 executives maintain that their turnover for this year will remain the same and unchanged, while 11% it moves away from these stability forecasts and predicts a decrease in its sales revenue in 2023.
His vision of the Spanish economy for this year is divided between 45% who say that it will get worse and 41% who believe that it will continue more or less the same. Only 12% see a positive evolution of the country's economy.
However, the perception of employers has improved from October to date. Then, only 18% predicted an improvement or stabilization of the economic outlook; Now, it has risen to 53%, if you add those who believe that it will get better and those who maintain that it will continue more or less the same.
These answers reflect that businessmen leave behind a 2022 that for 57% was worse than the previous year, and only for 43% it improved or, at least, remained stable.
The 79 managers surveyed for this Visage Index agreed that they rule out cuts in investment for this 2023 and, in fact, half are considering increasing it. Spanish businessmen also do not include cuts in fixed investment in their plans for this year.
In addition, this report reflects that 55% of Vistage members believe that the profitability of their companies will improve, 26% of those surveyed believe that this indicator will remain the same, and 16% forecast a worsening of this variable.
54% of Spanish managers say that the workforce will increase in 2023. Despite the fact that it represents more than half of those surveyed, a cut of two percentage points is observed compared to the responses in October, when 56% planned to hire.
Despite this setback in hiring, plans to cut staff improved between October and December. In October, 18% of employers were contemplating layoffs compared to 7% who admitted planning to cut workers in December.
For their part, 38% of companies will continue with the same number of employees.
Managers seeking to increase their workforce point out that the main problem they encounter is the shortage of talent. 63% indicate that recruitment problems affect their productivity, while 37% say that this does not happen in their companies.
Given the difficulties in recruiting talent, survey companies have resorted in recent months to the implementation of flexible hours, remote work, the development of existing talent and, to a lesser extent, salary increases. In addition, 12% confirm that offering good salary conditions to their workers makes it easier to attract candidates.
Retaining talent is easier for companies than recruiting it, and only 18% of managers admit to suffering employee flight. This data has moderated since October, when it amounted to 56%.
Regarding company departures, 51% of employers say they were voluntary and 28% dismissals.
Regarding the current work model, although companies are betting on teleworking to attract talent, the modality preferred by Spanish managers is the hybrid model, which combines face-to-face with remote work.
However, different trends can be seen depending on the size of the company. The smallest are committed to an increase in teleworking, while the medium-sized ones opt more for the hybrid. The acceptance of remote work in large companies is still residual, according to Vistage's findings.
The three problems that companies identify in 2023 are inflation, cyberattacks and logistics.
72% of companies will make their products or services more expensive this year, 21% will keep their prices the same and 6% will lower them.
Entrepreneurs say that inflation was one of the great setbacks of 2022, which caused 25% of those surveyed to overrun costs related to suppliers and 20% to energy. The CPI also led 18% of those surveyed to raise the salaries of their employees.
As for computer attacks and data theft, 11% claim to have suffered them. To respond to this type of crime, 65% of executives have a strategy in this regard, compared to 25% who do not.
Regarding supply chains, 28% of those surveyed state that they do not suffer any setbacks, compared to 20% who claim to have logistical problems. For 30%, the supply chain has improved.
