It’s early in 2025 – what has changed?

As we begin 2025 Cornerstone International Group reviewed Surveys conducted in 2024 from more than 7000 Mid-sized business owners and CEOs.  Most of the surveys asked them to rank and discuss their major organizational concerns and hopeful expectations for the New Year.  The represented businesses typically employed 50 to 1000 people in various geographic regions where Cornerstone’s members live and provide Human Resources consulting and recruiting services. Here are overviews of the results by geography.

United States 

Gartner’s CEO & Senior Business Executive Survey showed that the greatest concern for 56% of the leaders responding believe that “Growth” in 2025 represented their largest challenge.  Implementing new and existing Technology ranked #2 in challenges of concern (42%).  36% of these executives believed strengthening their organization’s operating model or corporate profile would be their biggest challenge (ranking it as #3), and finally, 25% of the people surveyed listed “Financial Stability” as their toughest business concern in 2025, ranking it #4.  

Workforce issues fell from the third largest concern for 2024 to #5 in the 2025 ratings with only 21% of the executives including it on their list.  Gartner VP Peter Akens believes, “It’s not that they’re unconcerned about the workforce, they’re just less concerned relative to other things.  Maybe some CEOs have blind spots about technology and focus more on AI driving the organization’s future than the workforce.”   

Canada

ADP surveyed 700 Canadian Business Executives from mid-sized companies during 2024 asking about concerns or challenges they were anticipating in 2025.  #1 on the Canadian List with a 41% response rate was the sheer volume of Government Regulations required to operate the business.  Employee Health Care costs and affordable care were specifically mentioned.  

Their #2 concern was finding the right people to employ and keeping them engaged.  50% of the responses said they were extremely or very worried about the quality of the available work force.  41% of the executives responding are also worried about employee engagement.  While one-half of the responses said they were concerned, less than 20% of the individuals were confident that they had the tools to fund, grow and retain their talent.  

Central and South America

IBM – CEO Decision Making in the Age of AI – Act with Intention – in 2023, after the Covid Pandemic, the entire region began returning to their former “low growth” path.  In this survey, Business owners and executives (48%) said Productivity and Profit were their main concerns.  To Gain competitive advantages, they plan to modernize their businesses with technology led by AI.  

There is no lack of workers in the region.  In fact, the number of workers has doubled in the past 30 years, yet businesses continue to be challenged by regional unproductiveness.  45% of survey replies said they were looking to modernize their business operation with technology implemented with AI as the key enabler.  43% of the replies stated that they anticipated improving the customer experience with new technology.  

These executives are increasingly relying on tech leadership as strategic decision makers.  63% of the respondents believe that cloud computing is the key technology to help them deliver results.  Other CEOs prefer advanced analytics and AI in equal measure.  However, many facilities have experienced numerous hurdles in implementing these AI changes due to complex and decentralized tech management, inexperience, and outdated equipment and processes.  In some cases, the modernization process is failing because:                                         

• Management not giving the necessary importance to their corporate culture
• Facility not prepared for hybrid and digital work environments
• Failure to upgrade the legacy infrastructure to meet business needs and improve operations
• Using outdated ROI calculations to reflect long term value of IT modernization
• Lack of prepared and adequate teams to implement plans
• 50% of CEOs replied that they were already integrating modernization of technology while less than 33% of their executive teams agreed.  

Great Britain

Dirk Hahn, CEO of Hays LLC believes 2025 is the year Robotics really arrives in these countries as long as the government regulations keep pace with industry developments.  

AI will lead the real accelerations and become the dominant theme.  It becomes an “indispensable yet increasingly invisible force in the workplace, seamlessly integrating into businesses’ daily tools”.  According to one respondent,  the real challenge now lies in Trust.  

There is no great demand for AI specific jobs yet due to the costs and aging legacy infrastructures.  

The Government has committed to reforms and delivering housing growth.  

Western Europe

CEO confidence deteriorated globally in 2024.  While the drop was marginal in the USA (1%), the fall was steeper in Europe according to the Conference Board.  European Confidence levels moved from 56 in the beginning of 2024 to 49 in the second half of the year.  

Eastern Europe

PWC –Thriving in an Age of Continuous Reinvention. Annual CEO Survey.  

Respondents believe an urgent need exists to respond to rapid changes in this region.  Their business confidence is returning and is 5% above the global average demanding transformation by taking measured, practical steps.   45% of the respondents believe that their business will be viable in 10 years, while 48% of respondents did not see their Company surviving until the end of this decade with their current business model.  Regulatory and compliance requirements, plus supply chain disruptions, impede change. At the same time, customer preferences demand alternatives. 

The main driver of transformational change here will be technology growth and development.  Inflation and Geo Political conflicts are Key threats to growth, but less so than last year.  Climate change is also a pressing concern in the region.  Most survey participants report more work planning or work in progress in numbers much higher than global averages.  Businesses’ main focus is energy efficiency, as this represents actual cost savings while work is still in progress.  

59% of the CEOs believe AI will significantly change their business by capturing and delivering value.  At the same time, they are less sure about AI’s ability to build customer trust and less enthusiastic about the possibility.  Only 25% believe it can versus 50% of global executives surveyed.  

After just a few weeks in 2025, these concerns have already changed.  The shifts are more dramatic in some regions than in others.  In the United States, new directives from Federal Agencies are requiring organizational leadership that is both more focused and flexible than ever before.  

Around the globe, similar changes are taking place.  Today’s leaders of global organizations must have the ability to understand and respond appropriately, and they must do so quickly.  It’s imperative to include local knowledge in all decisions.