Half of executives believe legal uncertainty is the main threat to the Spanish economy

Amid the economic slowdown, Spanish businessmen hope to continue growing in turnover, investment and employment. But they also have concerns. Half of executives (48%) point to legal uncertainty as one The main threats to the country’s economy, ahead of political uncertainty (44%) and regulatory changes (30%). These are the results from the twentieth edition of the ‘Perspectives Spain 2024’ survey, prepared by KPMG in collaboration with CEOE and surveyed by more than 1,350 businessmen and executives. “Companies need an environment of trust, moderation and understanding, where there is less uncertainty, greater regulatory quality and independence of institutions,” said CEOE president Antonio Garamendi.

Optimism regarding the numbers is remarkable. 71% of survey respondents are confident their sales will increase in the next 12 months53 percent will increase their investments. At the same time, 40% forecast two percentage points more growth in the workforce compared to 2023. But above are more than 215 laws approved in the last parliament in an environment marked by the epidemic and the outbreak of war. Increasing energy and consumer prices in Ukraine. “Many of these laws affected labor and financial matters and therefore had a direct impact on companies’ operations, processes and income statements,” the report states. The authors of the document note that “everything indicates that this pace will slow down in the current legislature” due to the fragmentation of parliament after the last general election in June and the difficulty of closing agreements.

Regarding the current economic situation, businessmen prefer to be cautious. Half (54%) rate the economic situation as fair, three percentage points lower than the previous year, and 45 percent expect the development of the Spanish economy to be worse or much worse. 41% expect no change. There are also concerns about rising prices. Two in three executives (63%) believe the impact of rising prices on profit margins is high in 2023. For Spanish businessmen, the three main threats to business next year related to inflation are demand risk (34%)), volatility in commodity prices (33%) and interest rates (27%).

Implementation of generative artificial intelligence

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The advent of Chat-GPT and the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution have also disrupted the business structure. 37% of executives plan to incorporate this technology into their systems in the coming months compared to 17% who already have this feature in their organization. The areas where their assistance will be most notable will be operations, customer relations and marketing, but their arrival in companies will create challenges in change and talent management because this implies a new way of doing things and requires new competencies and abilities. . What is clear for the vast majority of Spanish business people is that both digitalization and talent are increasingly ingrained in corporate agendas, as stated by 69% in the first case and 60% in the second.

Another of the big issues being addressed in the Spanish business structure today is the inclusion of ESG programs that positively impact financial results. Fully 44% state that one of the main sustainability challenges their company will face in the next three years is identifying sustainable opportunities for commercial offering. Three in four (76%) have reviewed their ESG strategy or will review it in the next 12 monthsSomething that highlights how the impacts of climate change, advances in digital transformation and economic uncertainty are forcing companies to update their sustainability agendas. Entrepreneurs highlight sustainable innovation above all others by having a supply chain that respects the environment, society and climate change among all areas.