Why are so many CEOs heading for the exits?
Fresh data on how many workers in this economy are quitting or changing jobs — the new Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey — comes out March 6. But we got a bit of insight today into what turnover is like in the C-suites of this country.
The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Tuesday that nearly 200 CEOs stepped down in January, and that in all of 2023, over 1,900 headed for the exits. That’s the most the firm has reported since the mid-2010s, at least.
When a CEO steps down, that likely means one of two things, said Yo-Jud Cheng at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
“It can indicate that things are good, the economy is stable, the firm is performing well, CEOs are collaborating with their boards to set a transition timeline,” she said.
And then there are the times when a CEO is pushed out or leaves abruptly, which could mean “increasing competition, poor performance, basically, resulting in more CEOs being pressured out of their roles,” she said.
Both of these scenarios probably played out with chief executives who stepped down last year, but Andy Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas thinks one theme might run through a lot of them: the pandemic.
“Companies were loath to let go of their leaders in the middle of a crisis,” he said.
Now, he said, they’re not. That’s because the economy’s more stable, and companies see an opportunity to make a change.
“It is actually a positive sign of more certainty, more ability to make long-term major decisions at a company than we’ve seen over the past few years,” he said.
CEO’s job descriptions have changed since the pandemic too, said Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at Glassdoor.
“CEOs, you know, five, 10 years ago, used to be strategic top-down deciders, whereas now they have to be more listening consensus builders,” he said.
And they have to listen to a growing array of stakeholders, said Yo-Jud Cheng at UVA. “Not just shareholders, but employees, suppliers, community members, politicians,” she said.
All of that pressure from all of those different directions adds up, Cheng said. And it could mean that more frequent CEO turnover becomes the new normal.
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