Engineering and construction CEOs are more optimistic this year than in previous years, according to PwC’s 2014 Global CEO Survey. Forty-one percent of respondents expect to grow over the next 12 months, up from 31% last year.
This and other big-picture facts are available in the survey, which provides multiple “snapshots” of the engineering and construction sectors, including growth markets, government impact on the industry, transformative global trends, and concerns about sustainability and climate trends.
Here are some of the snapshots we found the most interesting (read the full report):
- 50% of CEOs in the engineering and construction sector believe the global economy will improve over the next 12 months; 9% believe it will decline
- 78% of sector CEOs are concerned about how governments will respond to deficit and debt in the next year—this is the concern that the highest number of engineering and construction CEOs reported worrying about
- 76% of sector CEOs are worried about high and volatile raw material prices
- Concerns about infrastructure gaps are a consistent concern—47% of sector CEOs reported concerns that inadequacy of infrastructure could hurt growth, 50% think that infrastructure think it should be one of their government’s top 3 priorities, and 41% feel that the government is ineffective (as opposed to 33% who believe that the government is effective)
- The U.S. topped the list of growth markets, and the Middle East ranked much higher as growth markets for engineering and construction CEOs than for other sectors
- Cost reduction heads the list of restructuring activities
- 69% of sector CEOs believe that technological advances such as the digital economy, Big Data, and social media will be the biggest transformative trend for their businesses in the next year
- E&C CEOs are significantly more worried about the availability of key skills in their workforces than are other industries.
- 89% of E&C CEOs say it’s important for their company to try and reduce their environmental footprint.
- 59% of E&C CEOs believe that resource scarcity and climate change will transform their business
For more, read the full report.
Related Stories
| May 2, 2013
New web community aims to revitalize abandoned buildings
Italian innovators Andrea Sesta and Daniela Galvani hope to create a worldwide database of abandoned facilities, ripe for redevelopment, with their [im]possible living internet community.
| May 1, 2013
A LEGO lover's dream: Guide to building the world's iconic structures with LEGO
A new book from LEGO master builder Warren Elsmore offers instructions for creating scale models of buildings and landmarks with LEGO.
| May 1, 2013
New AISC competition aims to shape the future of steel
Do you have the next great idea for a groundbreaking technology, model shop or building that could potentially revolutionize the future of the steel design and construction industry? Enter AISC's first-ever Future of Steel competition.
| May 1, 2013
Data center construction remains healthy, but oversupply a concern
Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are among the major tech companies investing heavily to build state-of-the-art data centers.
| May 1, 2013
Groups urge Congress: Keep energy conservation requirements for government buildings
More than 350 companies urge rejection of special interest efforts to gut key parts of Energy Independence and Security Act
| May 1, 2013
World’s tallest children’s hospital pushes BIM to the extreme
The Building Team for the 23-story Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago implements an integrated BIM/VDC workflow to execute a complex vertical program.
| Apr 30, 2013
Healthcare lighting innovation: Overhead fixture uses UV to kill airborne pathogens
Designed specifically for hospitals, nursing homes, child care centers, and other healthcare facilities where infection control is a concern, the Arcalux Health Risk Management System (HRMS) is an energy-efficient lighting fixture that doubles as a germ-killing machine.
| Apr 30, 2013
First look: North America's tallest wooden building
The Wood Innovation Design Center (WIDC), Prince George, British Columbia, will exhibit wood as a sustainable building material widely availablearound the globe, and aims to improve the local lumber economy while standing as a testament to new construction possibilities.
