Biz Outlook Survey
by Sen Sam Slom, SBH News
Results of this year's first BOSS - Business Outlook and Sentiment Survey - of 400 business leaders on all major Hawaiian Islands, finds that revenues and profits at Hawaii businesses are up strongly and optimism remains high, overall, for the local economy in the coming year. On the flip side, hiring remains slow. QMark Research, a division of the Anthology Marketing Group, does the BOSS twice a year for Hawaii Business magazine.
"The BOSS is Hawaii's top survey of local business leaders and a vital measure of Hawaii's economy - where it has been and where it is headed," said Steve Petranik, editor of Hawaii Business. "This year's survey points to an optimistic view of the year ahead, which is a good sign. If business leaders are optimistic, they are more likely to expand their businesses, hire more employees and give raises to existing employees. However, in the bad news category, hiring does remain slow, with a small percentage of companies planning to substantially increase spending in the coming year."
Survey findings include:
- Revenues and profits at Hawaii businesses are up strongly. Forty-four percent of companies say revenue is up in the past year and 33 percent say profit is up.
- Optimism remains high for the Hawaii economy, overall, in the coming year, but that optimism has remained relatively steady for two-and-a-half years without increasing.
- Hiring remains low, with only 16 percent of companies surveyed saying that they have added staff in the past year.
- 13 percent of companies surveyed plan to substantially increase spending. Meanwhile, 24 percent of companies plan to continue cutting costs.
HB: Hawaii Business BOSS Survey – June 2012 |