Shrinking consumer demand biggest threat to business recovery for Asian businesses: YPO survey

ONE in two CEOs globally say diminished demand for their products/services is the greatest obstacle to their business viability, followed by changes in consumer behaviour (44 per cent) and operating restrictions from the government (32 per cent), according to the latest YPO survey.

Specific to Asia, CEOs in the region said the greatest obstacle to business viability is diminished demand for products and services (53 per cent in Asia vs 50 per cent globally.

That being said, CEOs in Asia have less difficulty getting employees back to work (8 per cent vs 12 per cent globally).

YPO is a global leadership community of more than 29,000 chief executives. They have conducted a number of all-member surveys to gain continued insights into the impact the global pandemic has had on businesses and chief executive perspectives over the past few weeks. This latest survey was conducted between 27-30 May and drew 2,718 respondents.

Asia includes Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In terms of one-year impact on business outcomes, sentiments of a slow recovery remain prevalent globally, as chief executives anticipate continuing negative effects one year from March 1 on revenue (49 per cent), headcount (39 per cent), and total fixed investment (39 per cent).

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A higher percentage of CEOs in Asia (33 per cent compared with 29 per cent compared with 29 per cent globally) expect sales to be down by more than 20 per cent a year from now.

More Asian CEOs (29 per cent vs 23 per cent globally) also expect total fixed investment to be down by more than 20 per cent a year from now.

In terms of manpower management, 15 per cent of Asian CEOs (compared with 18 per cent globally) said they expect their total number of employees to be down by more than 20 per cent a year from now.

Looking at government support, 52 per cent of Asian CEOs said they have received government support vs 55 per cent globally.

A higher percentage of Asian CEOs also indicate that their business need more government support but it is not available (31 per cent in Asia vs 28 per cent globally.