Grappling with challenges such as the supply chain, ESG policies, recruitment, and new technologies are some of the issues CFOs will face in 2023, CFO magazine reported, citing a survey that found that most of them see economic disruption as their biggest challenge in the upcoming year. For job applicants, this means that recruiters will value problem-solving and decision-making abilities more highly than other skills, such as technology. 

The Financial Decision Makers Outlook by Hanover Research set out to discover how financial decision-makers have responded to economic changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, what their  outlooks toward the post COVID recovery are; what their companies have done to invest in and attract talent during the Great Resignation and what tools they are using; and what their view of the financial landscape is; what steps are they taking; and what tools they plan on adopting. 

The survey found that 68 percent of executives are seeking employees with skill sets such as problem-solving/decision-making abilities, 67 are looking for those with strategic/business-oriented thinking, and 53 percent want employees with communication skills.Less than half of those (43 percent) surveyed want employees who are well-versed in technology solutions. And only 34 percent reported being interested in a candidate who has strong time management skills.

Other key findings included the following:

• About half of the business have coped with inflation by raising prices, reducing hiring or operational costs, or reducing corporate spending and updating tax planning and provisions to prepare for updated tax reform;

• In response to continuing inflation and COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions, most businesses have taken steps to prepare for an impending recession, which nearly two-thirds of businesses expect to last until late 2023 or later; and

• Most businesses plan to invest as much or more in environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in 2023, compared to 2022. More than half believe that the large gender pay gap is an issue for recruiting women for finance roles.

An economic disruption and/or recession was far and away the top concern for those CFOs polled. Almost half of them saw recession as the biggest business risk for 2023, far ahead of talent shortages, seen as the biggest risk by about one in six, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities and supply chain disruptions, each seen as the biggest risk by one in 10.