Three quarters of CEOs fear for the job, worried more about supply chain than COVID

Nearly three-quarters of American CEOs believe their job is at stake in 2022, but they are worried more about supply chain disruptions, artificial intelligence and labor shortages than the pandemic, according to a new survey by the management firm AlixPartners.

Only 3% of corporate executives cited the COVID-19 virus as their top worry, while 72% surveyed cited losing their job as a concern, AlixPartners top official reported.

"When we asked people what was keeping them awake at night, COVID didn't even make the top 10, in fact, it came in at No. 13," AlixPartners CEO Simon Freakley told Yahoo Finance. "In the top 10 were issues like the impact of artificial intelligence in their sectors, governance issues coming from new regulation, environmental issues, how they were responsible but still profitable."

In all 3,000 CEOs were surveyed, unmasking growing fear about business disruption and falling behind in a rapidly changing technological world, he added.

"Almost three-quarters of CEOs feel that their jobs are in jeopardy, a massive 20 point jump since last year, is really significant," Freakley said. "And interestingly, Julie, of all those 3,000 CEOs that we interviewed around the world for this study, 94% of them felt that their business models would have to fundamentally change in the next three years for them to remain relevant in their markets, and 57% of them felt they weren't making swift enough progress.