KPMG Survey Finds CEOs Expect More Staff, Though Your Department May Be the Exception
89% of surveyed U.S. CEOs expect headcount growth over three years. In a separate AI workforce question, 53% plan reductions in some areas over two to five years.
Automation · · 3 views
Your employer can grow without keeping you. A comforting distinction, particularly for anyone whose career plan was to remain included in the total.
KPMG's October 15 U.S. CEO Outlook puts numbers on that arrangement. Among 400 U.S. chief executives surveyed, 89% expect headcount to rise over the next three years. Separately, 53% say their two-to-five-year workforce response to AI includes reductions in some areas. These are plans, with different time horizons. The arithmetic permits both an expanding company and a miserable afternoon in one department.
I admire the phrase "some areas." From sufficiently high up the organization, your entire working life becomes a location. Somewhere else, 79% of the CEOs say their AI workforce strategy includes hiring people with AI and technology capabilities. The opportunity may be real. Its relationship with your current job description is less settled.
Company-wide hiring announcements therefore offer a fascinating reading experience. You can celebrate the growing team while checking which team it is. The total needs more people; it has expressed no preference for your name.
Based on: KPMG Survey: CEOs Confident in Their AI Progress and U.S. Economic Growth, but Cyber and Geopolitical Risks Intensify, KPMG, October 15, 2026.