New Survey Examines Mid-Year Economic Outlook

 

Nearly six in ten of the executives (57%) have a positive view outlook for the economy over the next six months, while 51% are pessimistic about the outlook for the manufacturing sector.

 

About half of those surveyed expect their firm’s performance to decline and a majority expect to reduce costs across the board, such as operational (80%), supplier (65%), and labor (51%).

 

However, 70% of manufacturers said they plan to keep staffing levels the same over the next six months and 51% of executives are investing in quality improvement systems despite pressure to reduce costs.

 

As for international growth outlook, 80% of executives whose firms derive some revenue from outside the U.S. said most of their new customers over the next three years would come from domestic markets. However, about 25% of executives from large manufacturers say most of their new customers will come from outside the U.S. during the next three years.

 

The survey was commissioned by Baker Tilly Virchow Krause (Baker Tilly) and conducted by KRC.

 

During the survey, 300 telephone interviews were conducted with senior executives of small, medium, and large U.S. manufacturing companies. The interviews took place between June 2 and June 22, 2009.