With much of the country officially reopened after almost a year-and-a-half in lockdown, confidence within the business community is at a record high, but stumbling blocks such as supply chain issues and cyberattacks continue to be top concerns.
According to a recent survey of mid-size business leaders by JPMorgan Chase, 88% of respondents said they are optimistic about their company’s performance over the next six months, up from 56% one year ago, and 82% have similar faith in their industry as a whole, up from 45% one year ago. Those figures are the highest recorded since JPMorgan Chase began the study 11 years ago.
More than three-quarters of respondents — 80% — anticipate a rise in revenue and sales, and about half expect to increase investments in capital expenditures, a move only 18% of business leaders said was likely in the summer of 2020.
That rosy outlook extends to the broader national economy, which 75% of respondents said is moving in the right direction.
Still, the business community registered mounting concern with supply chain issues, which have remained a persistent drag on some sectors as pandemic-inspired restrictions on the movement of people and goods across international borders are eased. Some companies said they have been forced to switch suppliers or digitize certain back-office functions to cope with the disruptions.
Respondents also said they’re worried about data breaches, which have captured headlines in recent months as hackers based primarily in Russia and Eastern Europe launch damaging ransomware attacks on Western firms. According to JPMorgan Chase, about one-third of companies have reported being directly impacted by a cyberattack or fraud since March 2020.
