Providing Healthcare Benefits Is Top Business Challenge for Company Leadership, According to Adecco Staffing US Survey

MELVILLE, N.Y., Nov. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than half of senior executives in the U.S. cite providing healthcare benefits to their employees as the greatest business challenge they face, according to a new survey by Adecco Staffing US. Furthermore, 35 percent of executives are holding back on hiring additional employees because of the passing of the recent healthcare reform act and price increases associated with it.

Interestingly though, the survey, which polled more than 500 senior company executives, found that healthcare costs are not a new concern among businesses. In fact, it has long been a thorn in the side of top executives - more than one-third (35 percent) of those surveyed report that healthcare benefits were their top business challenge before the recession.

While healthcare continues to be the main concern among business leaders, salary and compensation costs trail only slightly behind it; 41 percent of executives identified salaries/compensation as their top business challenge today compared to 33 percent who said the same prior to the recession.

"While there certainly have been political and economic changes since the recession started in 2007, it's interesting to see that senior executives face the same challenges they did five years ago," said Joyce Russell, president of Adecco Staffing US. "Business leaders continuing to find competitive healthcare and salary packages as their two biggest challenges calls attention to the impact that the economy and changing regulations can have for an organization. As regulations change, businesses are often put in situations where they're faced with figuring out how to adjust their systems and processes to comply with policies instead of completely focusing on ongoing business challenges and opportunities."

In fact, the majority of companies are focused on the outcome of this year's election as a barometer for their businesses moving forward. A majority of senior executives (74 percent) say the outcome of this week's election is important to their business, with most concerned about the effect that future economic growth (71 percent), healthcare reform (65 percent), and national debt/managing the deficit (53 percent) will have on their business.

Other survey findings include:

Next president should make it easier for businesses to grow. Respondents have some thoughts on what they feel they need from the government to create jobs, including providing incentives to businesses to hire more (49 percent), investing in infrastructure improvements (44 percent), and reforming bureaucratic practices in the U.S. (43 percent).

Company executives largely split on best presidential candidate to boost business. About half (54 percent) of respondents believe that Mitt Romney is the best candidate for the growth and success of their business. The survey also revealed that 62 percent of respondents believe President Obama is not doing all he can to help businesses grow and succeed in the current economy. Despite executives' varying opinions about who would be the better president, 14 percent of small business executives and 6 percent of large business executives believe neither candidate will necessarily be good for the growth and success of their business.

Advice for the president.  When asked what advice they would give the president if they could, 18 percent said he should reduce government/regulations, 13 percent suggested creating more jobs/small businesses, and 11 percent advised being bipartisan/working together.

Cautious optimism abounds. Nearly half (47 percent) of executives believe their business profits will increase over the next year, while only 18 percent believe their profits will decrease. In addition, small business executives are more likely (48 percent) than medium or large business executives (41 percent) to say their profits will increase over the next year.

"This is an interesting time in the U.S. right now, with an election that will have a definite impact on the business and economic landscape," said Russell. "Senior executives – corporate decision-makers nationwide - are obviously very close to the business world, so it stands to reason they would have some valuable advice for what is needed to for business to grow and hiring to continue to bounce back in a meaningful way for us all."

Methodology

Adecco commissioned a telephone survey of 501 senior level executives (identified as CEO, CFO, COO, Partner, President, CMO, CXO, Owner, Managing Director, SVP/EVP). Fielded by Braun Research, the survey was conducted October 2 – 8, 2012. Survey results have a margin of error +/- 4.37% for this sample size.

About Adecco Staffing US
Adecco Staffing US is the nation's leading provider of recruitment and workforce solutions. It is the pre-eminent workforce management partner for Fortune 500 companies and career advisement expert for American workers, serving all of the key industries and professions that drive the U.S. economy forward. Adecco has more than 450 career centers and, on any given day, connects 70,000 talented workers to the best job opportunities across the country, making them one of America's largest employers. Visit adeccousa.com for more information.

About Adecco Group North America:
Every day we provide our clients with the talent they need, and help solve the business challenges they face today – and will encounter tomorrow. Our clients rely on us for a wide range of workforce solutions including:

• Contingent staffing and direct hire recruitment for large enterprise organizations across all skill sets
• Workforce solutions and consulting including Managed Services Programs (MSP) & Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
• Career transition and leadership consulting
• Specialty staffing, project solutions and consulting services

Additional information is available through our websites at www.adeccogroupna.com and www.adeccousa.com.

About the Adecco Group:
The Adecco Group, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is the world's leading provider of HR solutions. With more than 33,000 FTE employees and a network of over 5,500 branches, in over 60 countries and territories around the world, Adecco Group offers a wide variety of services, connecting over 700,000 associates with more than 100,000 clients every day. The services offered fall into the broad categories of temporary staffing, permanent placement, career transition and talent development, as well as outsourcing and consulting. The Adecco Group is a Fortune Global 500 company.

Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN)

About Braun Research, Inc. (BRI)
BRI is a well-respected and internationally recognized firm that employs techniques and standards approved by leading survey research academic organizations in the world. BRI is an active member in a number of respected organizations throughout the industry, including The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), Council on Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) and Council on American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO).

SOURCE Adecco Staffing US