This one is too good.
IoT analytics analyzed 3,000 earnings calls in Q2 of 2022 across about 1500 companies and dug into the topics. Here are your highlights, quoting generously from the article.
40% of CEOs talked about Ukraine in their earnings calls in Q2/2022 (+164% growth compared to Q1/2022), with the Russian invasion of the country continuing to be a leading topic for CEOs. The looming recession is another major imminent issue that CEOs discussed (20% of CEOs discussed it). The three other themes that drew substantial attention in Q2/2022 (vs. Q1/2022) included energy prices, the stock market, and layoffs (although on a smaller scale).
The three most-discussed topics were COVID-19, Inflation, and supply chains (mentioned in 60–72% of all earnings calls).
20% of all CEOs discussed a potential recession in Q2/2022. That constituted an increase of 399% compared to Q1/2022.
3% of earnings calls discussed public cloud spending or solutions. CEOs emphasized the significant opportunity that further cloud adoption brings with it. This quarter (Q2/2022) saw an increase in CEOs’ interest in the public cloud (+11%), while the key terms “hybrid cloud” and “private cloud” were discussed less frequently (−15% and −16%, respectively) compared to Q1/2022.
The increase in focus on potential problems appeared to come at the expense of more long-term topics, such as digital transformation (−22% mentions compared to Q1/2022) and sustainability (−10% mentions compared to Q1/2022), which both lost attention during the most recent quarter.
Also of note – early data from IDC indicates a 15% decline in PC shipments compared to last year. Gartner’s data expects a 9.5% decline in 2022.
The US government released the latest jobs data – the economy added 372,000 jobs last month, and unemployment was 3.6%, close to the lowest in a half-century. digging into the jobs data, professional and business services are looking like boom times, adding 74,000 jobs in June. Markets also looking good – manufacturing and leisure, and hospitality.
I’ll pair that with another piece of data — salaries in tech professions have risen 6.9% in the past year, with some positions — including web developer, technical support engineer and database administrator, and data analyst — leading the pack with double-digit growth, according to a survey by IT career marketplace Dice. Dice noted that this is the largest percentage increase of any year in the history of the study. Postings for open tech positions were up 62% from June of last year, according to CompTIA’s June 2021 jobs report.
Why do we care?
I have an upcoming appearance on Todd Kane’s Evolved Radio podcast, and in the recording, we talked about the weird state of the economy right now. Despite the gloomy feelings, there are a lot of bright spots out there. It’s weird because of the inconsistency.
Note that we’re talking about looming recession, not current one. My takeaway was this – CEOs are worried about tough times ahead, so are leaning into managing the business more than long-term planning. Survive vs. invest. Sound advice. The opportunity exists for those who CAN lean into their position and invest too. I’ll keep saying it – watch your customers and their needs. That inconsistency will make it hard to have broad warning signs, so you’re on the hunt for ones close to your customers.
Note that for you – the IT Services firm – and your customers in professional services, the job market is strong, and if you have to do staffing changes, it’s not going to be easy to fix them if you’re wrong. Be deliberate.