More than half of senior executives name offering health care benefits as the top business challenge, and 35 percent of senior executives say they are delaying bringing in more employees because of health care reform and its related costs, according to a new survey by Adecco Staffing US.
Still, health care costs have long remained a challenge for employers as another 35 percent of respondents say it ranked as their primary concern prior to the recession. Salary and compensation costs come in as the second concern in today's climate, according to 41 percent of respondents, an increase from 33 percent before the recession.
"While there certainly have been political and economic changes since the recession started in 2007, it's interesting to see that senior executives face the same challenges they did five years ago," says Joyce Russell, president of Adecco Staffing US. "Business leaders continuing to find competitive health care and salary packages as their two biggest challenges calls attention to the impact that the economy and changing regulations can have for an organization. As regulations change, businesses are often put in situations where they're faced with figuring out how to adjust their systems and processes to comply with policies instead of completely focusing on ongoing business challenges and opportunities."
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Regarding the election, 74 percent of respondents say the result is important to their businesses. Based on the election's results, respondents say their primary business concerns are future economic growth at 71 percent, health care reform at 65 percent, and national debt and managing the deficit at 53 percent.
To create jobs, respondents say the government should offer incentives to businesses to hire at 49 percent, investing in infrastructure improvements at 44 percent and reform bureaucratic practices at 43 percent. Fifty-four percent of respondents say Mitt Romney is the best candidate to promote growth and success of their businesses while 62 percent of respondents say President Obama could do more to encourage growth. Meanwhile, 14 percent of respondents from small businesses and 6 percent of respondents from large businesses say neither candidate is good for the growth and success of their businesses.
As 47 percent of respondents say their business profits are expected to increase in the next year, only 18 percent of respondents say they expect to see their profits fall. Respondents from small businesses are more likely than respondents from medium or large businesses to say they predict higher profits next year at 48 percent and 41 percent, respectively.
"This is an interesting time in the U.S. right now, with an election that will have a definite impact on the business and economic landscape," Russell says. "Senior executives – corporate decision makers nationwide – are obviously very close to the business world, so it stands to reason they would have some valuable advice for what is needed to for business to grow and hiring to continue to bounce back in a meaningful way for us all."
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