Study: CFOs foresee job cuts and credit woes through '09 - Washington Business Journal:

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The quarterly Duke University/CFp Magazine Global Business Outlook Survehasked 1,309 CFOs worldwide about their expectations for the economy. Their answer paint a gloomy picture for the rest ofthe * CFOs in the U.S. and Europe expected employment to shrinkjby 5.5 percent, with the unemployment rate in the U.S. seen risingh to perhaps as high as 12 percent in the next 12 Employment in Asia is expected to recedeby 1.
2 “Presumably, government programs will offset some of these but even the most optimistic governmenyt forecasts would reduce the losses by only 2 million,” said Campbelk Harvey, founding director of the survey and internationao business professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of “We’re facing the possibility of another 4 million lost jobs.” * U.S. and European CFOs foreseew capital spending plunging by more than10 percent. In Asia, CFOs anticipatew a 3 percent decline. * Six in 10 U.S. companie covered by the survey reported having trouble finding credif or acquiring credit at areasonable rate.
Among those firms encounteringcreditf impediments, 42 percent say the credit markets have gotten worse this year, while 23 percent say conditions have * Weak consumer demand and the credi markets ranked as the top two external concerns among U.S. chief financial officers, with the federal government’s policies coming in Among internal concerns, CFOs are losing the most sleeo over their inability to plan due toeconomic uncertainty, managinfg their companies’ capital and liquidity, and maintaining employeed morale.
Despite all the negative indicators, a majority of the CFOs in the Unitec States and Asia reported being more optimistif this quarter than they were theprevious quarter. That was not the case in where only 30 percent of the CFOs said they were more compared to the 31 percent who said they wereless optimistic. “Ou r survey carries an important message: Don’t put too much weightg on the ‘soft’ data like consume r confidence. Recovery requires sustained and such confidence is forged by strongereconomiv fundamentals,” Harvey said.
“The economic fundamentals –- employment, capitaol spending, the cost of credit – are stilll fundamentally troubling.” To see the complete surveyt results, go to the official Web site, .