04/08/2021

Two-Thirds of Greater Boston Middle Market Business Leaders Have Very Positive Outlook for Rest of 2021, Survey Finds

Half of companies plan to increase hiring; attracting talent and cybersecurity are top priorities 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Most Greater Boston middle market firms have a very positive outlook about their economic prospects this year and half say they are looking to hire more workers, according to a new Citizens survey of more than 130 businesses with $25 million or more in annual revenue. 

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents said they had a very positive outlook for their company for the rest of 2021. Of those, seven out of 10 attributed their positive outlook to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and six out of 10 cited an increased demand for products and services. 

Forty-eight percent of middle market firms said they had too few employees and planned to hire more this year. Survey respondents said attracting and retaining talent will be a key challenge in the post-pandemic economy and they expect to offer more remote/flexible work options and spend more on cybersecurity and information technology. 

“Middle market businesses play a key role as employers and economic engines in their communities,” said Jerry Sargent, Northeast Region Executive, Citizens. “They have shown their resilience over the past year. They are upbeat about the balance of 2021 and are looking to attract and retain top talent as the economy recovers and continues to move forward.” 

Key findings of middle market businesses survey include:

  • Attracting top talent was the No. 1 challenge that middle market businesses cited, with flexible/remote work arrangements (68%); higher than average compensation (51%); and employee benefits such as wellness programs (51%) among the strategies that middle market firms plan to use to retain workers.
  • Middle market firms are spending more on technology to compete, with 63% saying they plan to invest in cybersecurity and 60% planning to invest in information technology.
  • Technology continued to be a key theme as 82% of survey respondents said they use, or plan to use, advanced data and analytics while 60% use, or plan to use, artificial intelligence.
  • The top three concerns cited by business leaders were the ability to find and keep good employees (88%); the U.S. economy (86%); and having the talent needed to grow the business (80%). Other concerns included the ability to attract new customers (78%); the global economy (72%) and the rising cost of doing business (69%).
  • Thirty-eight percent of business leaders surveyed said they plan to engage in a merger or acquisition deal this year. Respondents also listed M&A deals as the top reason they would seek outside funding.
  • Seventy-five percent of businesses said they have a succession plan in place.
  • Finally, 24 percent of companies plan to implement real-time payments, but 55 percent did not know enough about the new payment system to make a decision. More information on real-time payments is available here. 

The survey was conducted to understand what Greater Boston middle market executives think about the current business environment and how it might change in the coming year.  One hundred and thirty-seven executives at companies with more than $25 million in annual revenue completed the survey, fielded by the Boston Business Journal research team, from Feb. 18 to March 12, 2021. The Boston Business Journal is part of American City Business Journals, the country’s largest owner of local business journals with nearly 500,000 paid subscribers, 16.6 million monthly visitors to its web sites and 220,000 annual event attendees. 

For more information, please go to the Citizens website. 

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $183.3 billion in assets as of December 31, 2020. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 2,700 ATMs and approximately 1,000 branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

 

This is for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. This material contains forward looking statements and there can be no guarantee that they will come to pass. Information contained herein is based on data from multiple sources and Citizens makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of data from sources outside of Citizens. 

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