The Washington Post reports that the Business Roundtable, made up of CEOs of some of the nation's largest companies, is projecting that the negative impact of the coronavirus will be seen through 2021. Almost a third of members suggest that it will last even longer.
The survey indicates that the executives have relatively low expectations for rebounds in hiring, sales and even capital investment.
According to the Post, "The CEO Economic Outlook Survey fell to 34.3 in the second quarter, the lowest reading for the composite index since the same three months of 2009, according to a report released Monday." The silver lining: "It’s well above the all-time low of -5.0, set during the first quarter of 2009 at the height of the Great Recession."
The Post also notes that the Business Roundtable "is wading into the debate over policing reform, calling on Congress to pass bipartisan policing restructuring before the August recess and endorsing a ban on chokeholds except when deadly force is warranted, a national police misconduct registry, and other changes."
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who leads the BRT’s racial equity and justice subcommittee, drew a direct line between economic recovery and social justice issues.
"We recognize that we’re outside of our traditional area of expertise," he said. "But this is a big deal. It’s affecting our communities. It’s affecting our economy. It’s affecting our employees in a really, really big way."
- KC's View:
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None of this stuff can be dealt with individually, because they're not taking place in a vacuum. It'll be interesting to see the degree to which the CEO members of the Business Roundtable are able to bring this thinking to how they run their individual companies.
