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
Affordable Housing | Mar 8, 2023
7 affordable housing developments built near historic districts, community ties
While some new multifamily developments strive for modernity, others choose to retain historic aesthetics.
Architects | Mar 8, 2023
Is Zoom zapping your zip? Here are two strategies to help creative teams do their best work
Collaborating virtually requires a person to filter out the periphery of their field of vision and focus on the glow of the screen. Zoom fatigue is a well-documented result of our over-reliance on one method of communication to work. We need time for focus work but working in isolation limits creative outcomes and innovations that come from in-person collaboration, write GBBN's Eric Puryear, AIA, and Mandy Woltjer.
Building Team | Mar 8, 2023
Call for Speakers: BD+C’s 2023 Women in Residential + Commercial Construction Conference
The 2023 Women in Residential + Commercial Construction conference event will take place October 25-27 in Nashville, Tenn., and will bring together more than 300 women leaders from all facets of the $1.4 trillion U.S. residential and commercial constructing sector.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Mar 8, 2023
Hoffmann Architects + Engineers receives Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from New York Landmarks Conservancy
Hoffmann Architects + Engineers, a design firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors, announces that the historic facade rehabilitation and window replacement at the 69th Regiment Armory has been selected for the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award, the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s prestigious recognition for outstanding preservation efforts.
Architects | Mar 7, 2023
David Chipperfield named 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate
Widely regarded as architecture's highest honor, the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize has been awarded to UK-based architect David Chipperfield. In honoring Chipperfield with the award, the Pritzker Prize jury cited the architect's "commitment to an architecture of understated but transformative civic presence and the definition—even through private commissions—of the public realm."
Multifamily Housing | Mar 7, 2023
Multifamily housing development in Chicago takes design inspiration from patchwork and quilting
HUB 32, a 65-unit multifamily housing development, will provide affordable housing and community amenities in Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood. Brooks + Scarpa’s recently unveiled design takes inspiration from the American tradition of patchwork and quilting.
Industrial Facilities | Mar 6, 2023
The largest planned logistics and business park in North America gets under way in Southern California
The $25 billion World Logistics Center will boost the supply chain capabilities of Southern California and will serve as a distribution center for destinations across the continent.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 6, 2023
NBBJ kicks off new design podcast with discussion on behavioral health facilities
During the second week of November, the architecture firm NBBJ launched a podcast series called Uplift, that focuses on the transformative power of design. Its first 30-minute episode homed in on designing for behavioral healthcare facilities, a hot topic given the increasing number of new construction and renovation projects in this subsector.
K-12 Schools | Mar 6, 2023
Benefitting kids through human-centric high school design
Ingrid Krueger, AIA, LEED AP, shares why empathetic, well-designed spaces are critical in high schools.
Adaptive Reuse | Mar 5, 2023
Pittsburgh offers funds for office-to-residential conversions
The City of Pittsburgh’s redevelopment agency is accepting applications for funding from developers on projects to convert office buildings into affordable housing. The city’s goals are to improve downtown vitality, make better use of underutilized and vacant commercial office space, and alleviate a housing shortage.