The Memo: CEOs on the outlook

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Almost eight in 10 CEOs expect all office workers on hybrid schedules will return to working in person five days a week by 2027.

That statistic comes from KPMG’s 2024 CEO Outlook Survey, which asked 400 U.S. CEOs about the key challenges and opportunities driving business growth today.

Seventy-nine percent of U.S. CEOs said they expect a return to working full-time in the office for “corporate employees whose roles were traditionally based in-office,” up from 34% who said the same in a CEO survey earlier this year.

“CEOs increasingly favor a comprehensive return-to-office but the need for flexibility still holds,” said Paul Knopp, KPMG U.S. Chair and CEO.

KPMG also found that 89% of CEOs also see an aging workforce “impacting their organization’s employee recruitment, retention and overall culture.”

Knopp said the results showed that “CEOs’ primary focus remains anticipating and staying ahead of the compounding and interrelated risks.”

“CEOs are strategically allocating capital to address cyber and geopolitical risks that can cause abrupt business disruption in the short term, while making long-term investments in GenAI and M&A to spur future growth,” according to the report.

The shoe might not fit at Nike — at least right away

In a big shakeup, Nike is getting a new CEO, a move that has sparked both optimism and skepticism from Wall Street.

As current CEO John Donahoe steps down and longtime veteran Elliott Hill takes the reins, some analysts view the change as a positive.

Deutsche bank is on board. “We believe this highly anticipated leadership change will inject a much-needed sense of urgency, focusing on product innovation, storytelling, marketing, and rebuilding wholesale partnerships — areas that suffered under previous leadership resulting in material underperformance in profitability and shareholder returns,” the bank said.

However, other experts have expressed doubts about whether this change will address the underlying issues plaguing the iconic brand, such as declining sales, increased competition, and struggles to innovate. Read about how long some analysts think it will take to tie up those loose strings.

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Send questions, comments, and fresh white sneakers to talk@qz.com. This edition of The Memo was written by Ben Kesslen, Francisco Velasquez, and Morgan Haefner.