A record percentage of CEOs in Slovakia are optimistic about growth, the highest increase in long-term investments will relate to digital transformation

The Most Respected CEO 2020 Award was presented to Mr Peter Krutil, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Slovenská sporiteľňa.

Bratislava, 20 September 2021 – CEOs in Slovakia commented in the PwC survey on how they see the likely growth of the global economy and of their companies in the coming year, what investments and actions they are planning, and what threats they are most concerned about. The survey was conducted by PwC in cooperation with the Slovak edition of the Forbes Magazine for the twelfth time. 168 CEOs responded to the survey in August 2021.

PwC and the Forbes Magazine presented The Most Respected CEO 2020 Award to Mr Peter Krutil, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Slovenská sporiteľňa, during the Slovak CEO Discussion Forum held on 20 September 2021, where business leaders discussed the survey results.

“CEOs in Slovakia state that, in addition to populism, pandemics and the increasing tax burden, they are most concerned about a shortage of key competencies, which has been one of the biggest threats in Slovakia for many years. Creating a skilled, educated and flexible workforce is clearly a key priority for government and business, as shown by the CEOs’ ranking in the survey. Companies in Slovakia and globally will have to focus even more on increasing the training of their employees in digital transformation and other areas,” commented

Věra Výtvarová, Country Managing Partner, PwC Slovensko.

A record percentage of CEOs in Slovakia and worldwide are optimistic about global economic development and company growth
55% of CEOs in Slovakia believe their employee headcount will increase over the next 12 months
The percentage of CEOs in Slovakia looking for space for further optimizations dropped year-on-year from 74% to 50%
Digital transformation will see the highest investment increase
Most CEOs in Slovakia are extremely concerned about populism and the availability of key skills
CEOs in Slovakia plan to focus on skills and the adaptability of their employees and on productivity increases via automation and technology
56% of CEOs in Slovakia will make changes to organizational goals as a result of the COVID-19 crisis to improve the position of their company in society

A record percentage of CEOs in Slovakia and worldwide are optimistic about global economic development and company growth

73% of CEOs in Slovakia are confident that global economic growth will improve over the next 12 months – this is the highest percentage since 2012, when PwC started conducting the CEO Survey in Slovakia. 55% of CEOs in Slovakia strongly believe that their company will grow over the next 12 months. And company growth over the next 3 years is expected by 63% of CEOs in Slovakia, which is also the highest percentage since 2012.

The percentage of CEOs in Slovakia looking for space for further optimizations dropped year-on-year from 74% to 50%

As regards growth initiatives, 62% of CEOs in Slovakia will seek organic company growth. Last year, three-quarters of CEOs planned to pursue initiatives aimed at increasing production or operational efficiency, but only 50% of CEOs plan to do the same this year. Last year, more CEOs (64%) stated they planned to introduce new products or services than this year (53%). The willingness to collaborate with other entrepreneurs or start-ups has also dropped by half from 20% to 10%. CEOs in other countries, when compared to CEOs in Slovakia, are planning more cooperation with other entrepreneurs or start-ups, new mergers or acquisitions, strategic alliances, or are considering selling their business. CEOs considering a merger or acquisition in Slovakia state they want to acquire talents, technologies, or processes.

Digital transformation will see the highest investment increase

When asked how CEOs plan to change long-term investments over the next 3 years due to the COVID-19 crisis, CEOs unequivocally state that the highest increase will relate to digital transformation. A moderate increase will affect initiatives to realize cost efficiencies, organic growth programmes, cybersecurity, and data privacy.

Most CEOs in Slovakia are extremely concerned about populism and the availability of key skills

Most CEOs in Slovakia are somewhat or extremely concerned about the increasing tax burden, the COVID-19 pandemic, and tax policy uncertainty. They believe that the growing national debt will impact tax policy, which will increase their organization’s overall tax obligation and will result in a reassessment of its cost structure.

56% of CEOs in Slovakia will make changes to organizational goals as a result of the COVID-19 crisis to improve the position of their company in society

63% of CEOs in CEE and 43% worldwide either have made, or are considering making, changes to their business so that their companies can contribute more to a better life in society. But only 44% of CEOs in CEE state they plan to increase investments in sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives due to the COVID-19 crisis over the next 3 years, which is far less than the worldwide percentage (60%). In Slovakia, 23% of CEOs plan to increase moderately, and 13% significantly, long-term investments in sustainability and ESG initiatives over the next 3 years as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

Notes for editor

You can find more information about the Slovak CEO Survey 2021 here:

http://www.pwc.com/sk/en/ceo-survey-2021.html

Global PwC CEO Survey 2021 results:

https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-agenda/ceosurvey/2021.html

The Award The Most Respected CEO 2021 was awarded to Peter Krutil, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Slovenská sporiteľňa from Alex Šrank, Partner, Capital Market and Transactions Leader at PwC Slovakia and Juraj Porubský, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Slovakia.

The 12^th Annual Slovak CEO Survey was conducted by PwC in cooperation with the Slovak edition of the Forbes Magazine. The contacted CEOs replied via an on-line questionnaire from 6 August to 7 September 2021.168 CEOs of companies operating in Slovakia in various sectors [financial services (banking & insurance), industrial manufacturing, construction, automotive, retail & distributive wholesale, consumer goods, transportation & logistics, information technology, telecommunications, energy & utilities, and other sectors] participated in the survey.

The Global CEO Survey was conducted on a sample of 5,055 respondents from 100 countries in January and February 2021. The sample of respondents is representative with regard to the GDP of individual countries.

Forbes Slovakia is the monthly Slovak edition of the Forbes Magazine published by the Business Consulting & Media, s.r.o. under a licence agreement with Forbes Media LLC. Forbes Media encompasses Forbes, the largest business media brand worldwide, Forbes.com, and 32 licensed editions. See www.forbes.sk for more information.

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We are a network of firms in 155 countries with more than 284,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory, and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com/sk.

PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

A record percentage of CEOs in Slovakia are optimistic about growth, the highest increase in long-term investments will relate to digital transformation

The Most Respected CEO 2020 Award was presented to Mr Peter Krutil, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Slovenská sporiteľňa.

A record percentage of CEOs in Slovakia and worldwide are optimistic about global economic development and company growth

55% of CEOs in Slovakia believe their employee headcount will increase over the next 12 months

43% of CEOs in Slovakia expect a moderate, and 12% a significant, increase in their employee headcount in the next 12 months. Over a 3-year horizon, they are even more optimistic – 44% expect a moderate, and 25% a significant, staff increase.

The percentage of CEOs in Slovakia looking for space for further optimizations dropped year-on-year from 74% to 50%

Digital transformation will see the highest investment increase

Most CEOs in Slovakia are extremely concerned about populism and the availability of key skills

CEOs in Slovakia plan to focus on skills and the adaptability of their employees and on productivity increases via automation and technology

To increase competitiveness, CEOs plan to place the focus of their company’s HR strategy on the skills and adaptability of employees and on productivity increases via automation and technology.

56% of CEOs in Slovakia will make changes to organizational goals as a result of the COVID-19 crisis to improve the position of their company in society

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