Unemployment and pandemic, main concerns of executives

Unemployment is main concern among executives, closely followed by infectious diseases, according to a survey of business leaders around the world conducted by the World Economic Forum, the results of which were released Thursday. 

Fiscal crises, which were the main concern in 2019, came in third place, followed by cyber-attacks and "strong" social instability. The survey was carried out over 12,000 business leaders from 128 different countries. 

While the main risks are mainly related to the economy, climate-related risks are causing greater concern this year, including natural disasters (up seven places), extreme weather events (up five places), loss of biodiversity and ecosystem collapse (up eight places), and lack of adaptation to climate change (up two places).

“The employment disruptions caused by the pandemic, rising automation and the transition to greener economies are fundamentally changing labour markets. As we emerge from the crisis, leaders have a remarkable opportunity to create new jobs, support living wages, and reimagine social safety nets to adequately meet the challenges in the labour markets of tomorrow”, says Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum.

By region, in Europe the main concern is the spread of infectious diseases, followed by cyber-attacks and unemployment, while in North America managers are concerned about computer attacks, pandemics and data fraud or theft. 

East Asia and the Pacific is also mainly concerned with the pandemic, but in second place is the asset bubble and, in third place, natural disasters. In Latin America and the Caribbean, failure of national governance is the main concern, followed by unemployment and social instability.