Credibility with and support from corner offices for corporate sustainability programs has been a hard fought battle, but it may be short lived… Financial Times reports that C-suite tenure is shrinking fast:
“Chief executives of publicly traded US companies are leaving in record numbers despite historic pay bonuses as the booming stock market and fear of turmoil in 2025 has prompted executives to exit. In the year to November, 327 chief executives at US public companies announced they were leaving, exceeding the record 312 exits in 2019, according to Challenger Gray, a consultancy…
With president elect-Donald Trump promising tariffs and threats to free trade, CEOs overseeing global supply chains are retiring — or are considering it — rather than face the looming headache, people who advise CEOs have said.
‘Some [business] sectors will find CEOs saying ‘I am going to step out before I have to deal with all this,’’ said one executive adviser, who requested anonymity to speak freely.”
It isn’t just the CEOs, either:
“Chief financial officers at large US public companies lasted a little more than three years in their jobs, down from 3.5 years two years ago, according to a December report from Datarails, a software company…
‘The average tenure of a Fortune 500 [company] CFO continues to go down,’ said James Stark, head of the CFO practice at Egon Zehnder, a recruitment firm… ‘the tyranny of quarterly earnings’ contributes to burnout.”
With CEO, CFO and CSO turnover at all time highs, how can companies stay the course on sustainability/ESG? You’ve probably heard this before – make it a part of your business fundamentals and spread the love throughout the company rather than concentrating responsibility, accountability and expectations at the top. The more sustainability is truly embedded into the business fabric of your company, the less you should worry about C-suite turnover.
Our members can learn more about the business case for sustainability here and our Guidebook Simplifying ESG/Sustainability Business Value.
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