As the year draws to a close, inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and overall economic instability are leaving a mark as executives take stock of the last six months and look forward to the new year. Much of the technology industry’s volatility has been confined to Silicon Valley, but the ripples are being felt all over the industry as cost cuts and hiring issues grow.
Members of the CIO Professional Network recently gave their expectations on revenue and hiring for the first half of the new year while reflecting on the ups and downs of the last six months.
At this point last year, 68.57% of technology executives expected to see an increase in revenue, and only 31.42% predicted flat or negative growth. Economic concerns are clearly weighing on technology leaders across industries as 65% expect flat or negative growth in the first half of 2023, a large increase from the end of 2021.
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Overall, this decrease in revenue predictions follows a trend from mid-2021, when executives began to exercise caution in their revenue predictions. In mid-2022, that trend continued as 45% predicted little to no growth in the last half of the year, up from 13% at the end of 2021.
With the recent layoffs at Big Tech firms like Meta, Amazon, and Twitter, the state of technology talent seems dismal, but tech hiring is still outpacing the national average. While 70% are expecting flat or negative growth in hiring, those who expect an increase in hiring over the next six months have increased by 10% from Q3. The availability of tech talent is at an all-time high because of the recent big tech layoffs, and those with the budgets and intent to hire will take advantage of the growing talent pool.
On the other hand, other executives expect a hiring slowdown driven by a volatile economy, and it is not surprising that many executives are predicting their organization will continue at their current rate or decrease their hiring totally.
Despite some optimism from October’s consumer price index report, inflation is still high, and organizations are expecting the economic outlook to negatively affect revenue and hiring in the first half of the new year. This continues a year-long trend of waning confidence in economic growth, despite some optimism from very few CIOs.
