New president, new expectations. “Fortune” magazine and Deloitte (Deloitte) jointly launched a survey of CEOs in the US corporate world to understand their expectations of the Biden administration. Between January 5th and 13th, we received responses from more than 100 CEOs.
These business leaders answered all aspects of the survey, speaking freely from the timing of the profit rebound when talking about future office space needs.
Key figures
• 59% of CEOs believe that Biden’s top priority is to restore people’s trust in the government. (We invite them to list Biden’s three priorities.)
• 55% of CEOs believe that Biden’s top priority is to fight the new crown epidemic and recover the economy.
• 21% of CEOs believe that Biden’s top priority is to develop trade policies and tariffs.
• 5% of CEOs believe that Biden’s top priority is to formulate an immigration policy.
Key points of the questionnaire
• The American business community seeks stability. Restoring public trust in the government (59%) and dealing with the epidemic and economic crisis (55%) are the two issues that the CEO most hopes Biden will solve first. Trade (21%) and immigration (5%), areas that Trump focused on during his administration, rank much lower in this list.
In-depth discussion
1. Transportation.
After restoring people’s trust in the government (59%) and fighting the epidemic (55%), the third priority that the CEO gave Biden is to solve infrastructure problems (33%). This makes sense, because the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties agree that this is a problem that the country should solve. Considering that the two parties each hold 50% of the seats in the Senate, if Biden focuses on the fields they support, his work may be fruitful.
After the infrastructure issue, the CEO also believes that climate change (32%) and education and labor training (30%) deserve special attention.
2. There is still a lot of room for improvement in diversity.
We ask CEOs to evaluate their company’s progress in diversity, equality and inclusiveness. They stated that they have done so in terms of community participation (30%), board composition (29%) and data/indicator transparency (22%). Best.
At the same time, only a small percentage of CEOs stated that their company has reached the required level in terms of career development and promotion (9%), talent recruitment (11%) and talent retention (15%).
The CEO plans to complete the net zero carbon emission target time.Source: Fortune and Deloitte’s survey of CEOs
3. Most companies plan to achieve net zero emissions, but 40% of companies have no intention of doing so.
Currently, 10% of CEOs say that they have achieved the goal of net zero emissions. Another 50% are working hard for this, and the remaining 40% have not formulated a net zero carbon emission plan.
I may be talking on paper, but if some home office policies can be expanded and maintained for a long time, wouldn’t it be easier to achieve these goals? Reducing office commuting means reducing gasoline consumption, and even reducing office space. Of course this is just an idea. (Fortune Chinese Network)
*Survey method: Between January 5th and 13th, Fortune and Deloitte conducted a survey of CEOs in the corporate world, and 137 people (86% in the US) responded, of which 104 were complete Filled out the questionnaire. This survey report has been sent to the “Fortune” CEO community, which includes Fortune 1000 in the US, Fortune Global 1000, and CEOs who have participated in the Fortune Forum.
Translator: Qin Weiqi
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New president, new expectations. To find how chief executives officers want the Biden administration to govern, Fortune conducted a survey of CEOs in collaboration with Deloitte. We got over 100 CEO responses between Jan. 5 and 13.
Our CEO survey asks leaders everything from when profits will rebound to what future office spaces need.
The numbers to know
59%
• … of CEOs say restoring trust in government should be among Biden’s top priorities. (We asked CEOs to provide their top three priorities for Biden.)
55%
• … of CEOs say COVID-19 relief and economic recovery should be among Biden’s top priorities.
21%
• … of CEOs say trade policy/tariffs should be among Biden’s top priorities.
5%
• … of CEOs say immigration policy should be among Biden’s top priorities.
The big picture
• Corporate America wants stability. Restoring trust in government (59%) and addressing the pandemic and economic crisis (55%) are the two areas CEOs most want Biden to prioritize. The issues that dominated the Trump years, like trade (21%) and immigration (5%), are much lower on CEOs’ to-do list for Biden.
A few deeper takeaways
1. Planes, trains, and automobiles.
The third-highest priority CEOs have for Biden, right under restoring trust in government (59%) and COVID-19 relief (55%), is tackling infrastructure—33% of CEOs list it as a top priority. That makes sense, given both Republican and Democratic leaders agree it’s something the nation should address. Focusing on areas with bipartisan support could be fruitful for Biden considering the 50-50 seat split in the Senate chamber.
Just under infrastructure, CEOs list climate change (32%) and education/workforce training (30%) as priorities.
2. When it comes to diversity, there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
When asked to rate their company’s progress on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), CEOs say they’re doing the best in areas such as community engagement (30%), board composition (29%), and data/metric transparency (22%).
Meanwhile, only a small sliver of CEOs say their company’s DEI is where it should be when it comes to professional development and advancement (9%), talent recruitment (11%), and talent retention (15%).
3. A majority of companies have plans to reach net-zero emissions—but 40% don’t.
Already, 1 in 10 CEOs say they’ve reached their goal of net-zero emissions. 5 in 10 are still working on their goals—and 4 in 10 don’t have net-zero carbon emission goals.
I’m doing a little armchair quarterbacking here, but wouldn’t permanently expanding some work-from-home policies be an easy way to help meet these goals? Fewer commutes into the office equals less need for gasoline. It could even equal less need for office space. Just a thought.
*Methodology: Fortune surveyed CEOs in collaboration with Deloitte between Jan. 5 to 13. A total of 137 CEOs (86% in the U.S.) responded to the survey, which was sent to Fortune CEO Community. Among those, 104 fully completed the survey. That Fortune CEO Community includes Fortune 1000 CEOs, Global 1000 CEOs, and CEOs who attend Fortune conferences.
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