- PwC recently surveyed hundreds of C-suite business executives.
- The survey found some troubling indicators for corporate employees.
Rank-and-file employees across corporate America ought to be worried. At least, that's the takeaway from PwC's latest survey of top executives.
Earlier this month, the international professional services firm polled 722 executives based in the United States, including chief financial officers, chief marketing executives, chief information officers, and corporate board directors.
These leaders indicated that many of their companies are "taking proactive steps to streamline the workforce." Half of respondents said they worked at businesses that would be soon reducing their overall headcount. An additional 19 percent said their companies were considering or developing plans to do so.
That news isn't shocking, given the rash of corporate layoffs spreading across major US companies, such as Walmart, Tesla, and 7-Eleven. Those cuts were prompted in part by the "Great Regret," which saw many corporations hire on too many workers during the pandemic. In addition, the economy has been struggling with high inflation and sluggish growth for businesses.
Beyond outright cuts, 46% of PwC's survey participants said their companies were nixing or reducing signing bonuses while 44% said they were rescinding offers to job candidates altogether.