Most CEOs in the Philippines Are Worried About the Future of Their Businesses, Study Says

Global consulting firm PwC recently highlighted some of the quiet anxieties of the average Filipino chief executive officer (CEO) in a recent survey. As it turns out, roughly 54 percent of them are worried about how their business will be coping over the next decade.

The report, which comes from the 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, looked into the mindset of about 4,702 CEOs across 105 countries. In the Philippines' case, about 97 percent of CEOs were polled. With it, we learn about how much businesses have had to change their strategy to assess and create value over the past five years and beyond.

At the very least, about 86 percent of CEOs in the Philippines have addressed these concerns. Nevertheless, one of the most glaring aspects of overhauling companies is its workforce's skills. In the survey, 69 percent of CEOs say the lack of technological capabilities is among the deterrents of its next plans. Competing operational priorities had also been cited by 75 percent of the business leaders.

PwC Philippines Deals and Corporate Finance Managing Partner Mary Jade Roxas-Divinagracia explained in the report: “In the years leading up to the survey period, the country achieved consistent GDP growth rates of around 6 to 7 percent annually. And in the first quarter of 2024, we saw a year-on-year growth of 5.7 percent."

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She added: "The Philippines has undertaken efforts to improve its investment climate and attract foreign direct investment. This sustained growth and the positive investment climate could have promoted optimism among CEOs regarding both local and global economies.”

Philippine-based CEOs are also experiencing the shift of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in their workforce. In three years' time, it is projected that it will only be more influential in its revenue and profitability. But the thing is GenAI is going to have to require upskilling on the workers' side of things.

Unfortunately, too, for the Philippines, its AI readiness lags behind its Asia-Pacific neighbors. In the 2023 Asia Pacific Readiness Index, the nation obtained a total of 35.7 out of 100.

Digitalization in the Philippines has a long way to go, of course. But at the very least, businesses are better understanding the power of AI in the workforce. A separate study by Microsoft Corp. and LinkedIn's 2024 Work Trend Index suggests that 86 percent of Filipino knowledge workers use AI at work, compared to the global and regional averages of 75 percent and 83 percent, respectively. AI was found to have saved employees about 30 minutes of daily work, as well.

Roderick Danao also noted in the report that business leaders are now working to accelerate their business transformation more as they invest in tech and the workforce. "In this era of continuous reinvention, CEOs have vast opportunities to reshape their organizations, and themselves, to thrive on disruption, and transform aspirations into realities.”