Finance
Business leaders fear recession, labour shortages, World Economic Forum says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 5, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 5, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Business leaders fear recession, labour shortages, and inflation, with extreme weather and technology risks also significant, says WEF survey.
LONDON (Reuters) - Business leaders globally are worried about the risk of recession, labour shortages and rising inflation, despite some signs of improvement in economic conditions, a World Economic Forum survey said on Thursday.
Extreme weather events are an increasing concern, following a year of record temperatures, severe flooding and wildfires, including in major economies such as Brazil, Germany, Indonesia and the United States, according to the survey of more than 11,000 business leaders from G20 countries.
The WEF Executive Opinion Survey shows "a significant level of anxiety among business leaders in G20 countries", said Carolina Klint, chief commercial officer, Europe at Marsh McLennan, a WEF partner, along with Zurich Insurance.
Economic downturn is seen as the top risk for business leaders over the next two years, followed by labour and/or talent shortages and then inflation. Poverty and inequality ranked fourth, and extreme weather events came in fifth, the survey showed.
In individual country surveys, concerns about adverse risks from technology, including artificial intelligence, featured highly, coming in as the top risk for doing business in Indonesia, number three in the United States and number four in Britain, the survey showed.
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn)
The main topic is the fear of recession, labour shortages, and inflation among business leaders, according to a World Economic Forum survey.
The top risks are economic downturn, labour shortages, inflation, poverty, inequality, and extreme weather events.
Technology risks, including artificial intelligence, are significant concerns, especially in countries like Indonesia, the US, and the UK.
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