86% of CFOs Put Away the Ax

It says something about the economy that one could view as good news Robert Half International’s (RHI) announcement that 86 percent of CFOs want to maintain current staff levels in the next three months.

In an economy that’s expected to lose half a million jobs for the fourth straight month when unemployment figures come out later this week, having 86 percent of the 1,400 CFOs interviewed for the Financial Hiring Index say they’re not laying off in your industry is comforting.

Another five percent of respondents said they plan to add full-time employees, while 7 percent expect staff reductions. The other 2 percent don't know what they're planning to do.

What’s driving those figures? Curiously, 40 percent of the CFOs said rising workloads were the reason for additional hiring, and another 38 percent attributed it to business growth.

RHI slices and dices its data by region, industry, company size and other factors. So, if you want to see survey results for Boston, mid-size firms, or finance, insurance and real estate (all of which were showing positive demand), scroll to the bottom of the firm’s press release on the survey.