Chief financial officers (CFOs) in Canada are not expecting any immediate gains in domestic hiring as their sales and earnings growth expectations have fallen to the lowest levels in the past 10 quarters, according to Deloitte’s Q4 CFO Signals survey.
Sales growth expectations among Canadian CFOs fell to 4.2%, while earnings growth expectations slipped to just 3.7%.
Similarly, low sales growth expectations in the United States aren’t dampening hiring expectations there.
CFOs in the U.S. expect sales growth of just 3.8% and earnings growth of 9.5%, slightly below the historical average. American CFOs expect a 1.7% rise in domestic hiring—the highest it’s been in six quarters.
“Sales growth expectations among Canadian CFOs are now about a third lower than what they have been predicting over the past two years, while earnings growth is less than half the traditional figure and well below the North American average,” says Bill Cunningham, leader of Deloitte’s CFO program in Canada. “That may help to explain why, for the first time since our survey began, Canadian CFOs are predicting no increase at all in domestic hiring.”
The quarterly survey tracks the thinking and actions of CFOs representing North America’s largest companies, averaging more than $5 billion in annual revenue.
Related articles: