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Top CEO Worry for 2022: Job Security (axios.com) 49

Powerful CEOs worry about their job security as much as the rest of us do -- in fact, maybe even more. From a report: An eye-popping 72% of CEOs are worried about losing their jobs due to the disruptions facing their industries, according to a new report out today from the global consulting firm AlixPartners. That figure jumped 20 percentage points compared to just a year ago, when 52% of CEOs told AlixPartners they were anxious about job security.

The frenetic pace of change in businesses and the world has accelerated since the onset of the pandemic -- leading to a spike in CEO anxiety. 94% of executives say their business models need to change within the next three years -- but 57% fear their company isn't adapting fast enough.

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Top CEO Worry for 2022: Job Security

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  • by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @11:46AM (#62119409)

    they still get an big payout when let go

    • by BishopBerkeley ( 734647 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @11:56AM (#62119445) Journal

      Exactly! They don't worry at all. They all have golden parachutes.

      And, a lot of them should get the axe. It's their job to have anticipated these shortfalls and to have planned accordingly.

      Why would anyone care if these millionaires get axed?

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by olsmeister ( 1488789 )
        They spend too much money doing stock buybacks, and not enough on R&D and good personnel. They basically open the door to disruption for short-term share price pops, and then worry about someone who has a better grasp of the long-term big picture comes along and steals their lunch? They are putting the wrong people into these roles.
      • They should have anticipated a 2 year pandemic?

        When companies hold on to money, we complain about how they are hoarding it. When they don't, we complain that they were shortsighted.

      • I worked for an insurance and consulting behemoth. We sold disaster preparedness programs, even pandemic mitigation consulting. Any CEO who didnâ(TM)t have a plan in place for pandemic flu at least - very similar scenario - should be fired for cause. It was never a question of if.
      • Exactly! They don't worry at all. They all have golden parachutes.

        And, a lot of them should get the axe. It's their job to have anticipated these shortfalls and to have planned accordingly.

        Why would anyone care if these millionaires get axed?

        People have the propensity to consume. Million dollar salaried have spending to match. And when that income dries up, the debt that has accumulated (propensity spending), will wipe out any good-bye cushion.

    • The best advice is to live a modest lifestyle. If you are making millions, but spending millions, you will feel poor and insecure. I've heard it called "Golden Handcuffs" but that is apparently more commonly used to describe stock option packages.

      Most people's lifestyle is like a gas. It expands to take up all of your income.
    • Let's all spend a moment of silence in order to contemplate the plight of unscrupulous, dishonest, insincere, manipulative, selfish asshole millionaires.

      :D Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! :D

      This is peak schadenfreude for me!

      • better watch out CEOs, the millennials are coming to kill YOUR business next! [google.com][*]

        [*] it's amazing the number of industries that are collapsing because consumers don't have any money to, er, consume. You'd think some smart government economist would have predicted that.
        • If my 20-something kids are any indication, the politicians and CEOs are screwed. This generation actively distrusts employers and big corporations, refuses to go into debt to buy cars and houses - theyâ(TM)re just not into âoestuffâ the was earlier generations were. If the bigwigs canâ(TM)t see this coming, they need to look for new jobs. And probably will be.
    • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @12:34PM (#62119587)

      When you are super rich, it is no longer about the money.

      The currency with the super rich is prestige. Getting fired as a CEO is basically a black mark on your ability to CEO thing. These guys will be the CEO of multiple companies, and be on the board of their competitors, for the sole reason to show to their peers that they are the top dog.

      Getting Canned as a CEO for a CEO, isn't about the money, but being a looser to their peers. If they can jump onto a failing company and turn it around they are the Winner.

      In my career, I have worked with CEO's some of them are actually nice people, however they live in a different world with different rules. They considered the fact that I drove a Toyota vs a Mercedes, was me just being eccentric and not me having to pick from a practical car vs a Luxury car, so I could afford different luxuries. Also when they talk about other CEO's if their business failed or had issues they are just called Losers, as it was their biggest insult.

  • CEOs can be let go at any time. The big difference is they usually have a golden parachute and typical full vestment clause in their options (if it's a publicly-traded company)

    They don't have shit to worry about and they could give a shit about those who work for them.

  • by Dictator For Life ( 8829 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @11:54AM (#62119443) Homepage
    just reduce headcount by 20 percent and you’ll be back on top in no time! And don’t you worry about those saps you’ll be cutting loose: it’s not personal, it’s just business!
  • Oh, heavens! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by lionchild ( 581331 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @11:59AM (#62119461) Journal

    This really feels like a first world problem. Seriously? I'm certain Gold Parachutes will deploy to save them on their way down. :-/

  • pay their rent or where their next meal is coming from. Empathy low.

    • Uncertainty at the top , keep n mind shit rolls down hill. The gist of the anx is business models need revamping and HC changes a BoD way to take action even though still a dice roll on the new guys. Many of these CEOs will not go down quietly. The CEOs just most visible . Rest often cannon fodder.
  • by LostMyAccount ( 5587552 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @12:04PM (#62119477)

    Such that being independently wealthy by age 50 didn't result in just quitting paid employment forever.

    A lot of these people aren't billionaires, but they also don't expect billionaire lifestyles, either. $10 million in equities is a pretty comfortable lifestyle off the interest earned alone.

    • Some people need to feel useful and don't want to retire until forced to do so because of medical issues. I could have retired quite some time ago, but don't plan to do so as long as I have an option.
  • My life experience with CEO's is that they can go fuck themselves

  • Episode 2142. Go on, cry me a river, please.

  • Just pivot their chair for three years and look important, that's what they're there for.

    Reality will force the obvious decisions on them, anything non obvious will more likely than not be a stupid decision. No need to stress.

  • Actual picture of the world's smallest violin playing sad musics for these poor CEOs.
    (between the arrows):

    -> . <-

  • And as such completely unsuited for their jobs. I wonder how they got into these positions in the first place?

  • Why would they worry when they have their golden parachute, and will get millions when they are kicked out? These people have so much money even before they became CEO at their current company that they don't NEED to worry. Oh, they are worried about upkeep on their 5+ homes they have around the world? Seriously, most CEOs are incompetent, but are able to hop from CEO position to CEO position, ruining company after company.
  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @12:41PM (#62119615)

    Companies are evaluated on short term profit projections. They are changes in the market, that means these established companies will need a few quarters of loss, to retool and change as well new marketing to show them changing. The board don't like this, so they will pressure the CEO to not change their models, even if their model is doomed to failure.

  • Street criminals also worry about where their next payday is coming from.

    So does Wall Street and those adorable CEO's.

    Everyone is always worried about money. Even the people who have all of it.

    What a strange motivator. Always chasing something that will always elude you...unless you are the Boss' son.

  • I love how many of these comments assume that CEOs are super-wealthy. The average base salary for a CEO is $500k/year, but the standard deviation on that is huge. For a small-cap or private company $200-300K isn't uncommon. That's not much more than what a good software engineer can pull, and the social expectations are much higher for a CEO.

    "But most of their compensation is bonuses or stock options." - Your inner monologue

    You're right, but do you think a guy getting fired is getting bonus payouts or i

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Bahahahaha!

      For a small-cap or private company $200-300K isn't uncommon.

      Try telling that to small-cap or private company _employees_! There'll be mutiny!!

      do you think a [CEO] getting fired is..

      Fired?! Who ever said a CEO would be fired?? It's certainly not mentioned in the article.

      Haven't you read about it being just _better_ to _pay_ a CEO to leave?? What if they sue? It's much less risky to pay them a LARGE thank-you-for-your-leadership than risk getting sued and having to show that the gains they _may_ h

  • Your average CEO is a psychopathic son of a bitch that will not hesitate to lay off however many that may be necessary in order to insure that he (for it tends to be a 'he') his sycophantic, and largely useless executives get substantial bonuses for the deed. Always protected by the board of directors, which is composed mostly of - that's right - CEOs of other companies.
  • The CEOs are worried that rapidly changing conditions might reveal them for what they are - hugely overpaid, interchangeable, sometimes minimally effective figureheads.
  • ... 57% fear their company isn't adapting fast enough.

    The CEO didn't structure the company with sufficient flexibility and forward-thinking so that adaption could be a gradual process. Now, that adaption must happen quickly, they're still not providing the leadership the company needs.

    They're right to think they might be dismissed from their jobs.

  • Wendy's is hiring.

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