Resilience in the face of uncertainty. Despite a growing sense of uncertainty amongst CFOs (58%), there is a noticeable increase in optimism since our Spring CFO Survey (33% to 63%). This becomes especially evident when you contrast these results with those of the broader European survey (23% uncertainty and 51% optimism), which demonstrates a contrary trend.

When examining the primary concerns of Irish CFOs for the upcoming 12 months, Economic outlook and growth have now taken the top spot as their #1 risk, while the shortage of skilled professionals has dropped in the rankings from #1 to #4. This is a notable shift, considering it held the top position in several previous surveys. This is not altogether unsurprising given cost reduction is the top priority for Irish CFOs, and their view that they will see a decrease in staffing over the next 12 months (26% seeing a decrease, compared to 7% seeing one in the Autumn 23 survey). Also interesting is the drop in concern for cyber risk – 69% of CFOs seeing this as a significant risk in the spring, compared to only 32% in this survey. This might be a case of out of sight out of mind as the last survey was completed during a time of high profile cyber-attacks. However it’s important to remember that ongoing vigilance is key to mitigate the risk of a successful cyber-attack.

Click here to read the full European CFO Survey - Autumn 2023.