Thus, 26% of the respondents intend to hire new employees in 2013, while 56% of them forecast they will keep the same number of employees as in the previous year.
Also, 55% of the top executive see a 5% to 10% salary increase in 2013, mirroring inflation rate, while 42% expect salaries to remain flat over the next year.
Ernst & Young survey grounds on a questionnaire performed between January 21 to February 5, taking into account the answers of 105 top executives regarding their perception on the Romanian business environment in 2013. Most of the respondents come from companies with over EUR50 million in turnover.
On the other hand, 25% of the respondents are very confident the companies’ business will grow in 2013, while 40% are relatively confident in that. Nevertheless, the top executive are less optimistic about an increase of the industry they operate in, only 4% being very confident in that.
“Despite the fact that 2013 will be a year facing many challenges in various fields, many companies answered our survey and said they expect growth,” Bogdan Ion, country managing partner with Ernst & Young Romania, said in a statement.
In 2012, 30% of the respondents said they cut costs, while 28% focused on increasing productivity, in order to alleviate the crisis effects.
According to 31% of the respondents, costs continue to be an important element in the company’s competitiveness on the market. The local community equally took into account a new element in 2013, around 39% of the respondents expecting the main competition struggle is given on strengthening brand awareness and confidence.
Over 77% of the respondents consider customer satisfaction as one of the major factors in defining a company’s success on the local market, next to financial results, 93%, and market share, 64%. Over 38% of the top executives consider brand awareness as important.
On the other hand, 60% of the respondents claim their company’s success on the market mostly depends on the team abilities. Thus, 83% of the respondents consider the workforce’s education level is very important for a company’s success.
The companies will subsequently finance their operations mainly from banking loans, according to 45% of the top executives. Only 41% take into account the possibility to use European financing in 2013.
Under these circumstances, only 18% of the companies intend to continue the battle of low prices to increase their sales in 2013. In exchange, 75% will introduce new products and services for existing clients, 33% intend to enter new markets with their products and services, while 20% claim they reconfigured their product to enter new markets.