Randall Stephenson, the CEO of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), disclosed the results of the quarterly survey of members of the trade group known as Business Roundtable. The group is formed of CEOs of the 100 largest U.S. companies. As per the survey, the CEOs expect sales to rise in coming quarters. However, the capital spending will not see a major boost in coming quarters. Also, businesses are less inclined to add jobs in the next six months. In the last quarter survey, 44% of the CEOs expected to add jobs, but, the number has declined to 39% in the latest survey.
The looming uncertainties
The business leaders are getting wary on issue of corporate tax structure. The question is whether Congress will make changes to the existing corporate tax structure or not. The White House and the political parties have agreed to make the changes but the changes or which party’s proposal will be passed remains unanswered.
The proposed changes can allow the businesses to deduct spending expenses on R&D from corporate income taxes. The decision will also be affected by the elections. Already, the November elections have forced Congress to adopt a cautious approach on the matter.
The chairman’s views
Randall Stephenson is the chairman of the trade group. He answered to all the questions of reporters on Tuesday. He didn’t talk much about AT&T but said that it is getting tough for the company to fill in posts of highly skilled technical jobs.
The company interviews at least 11 applicants for a single post. There are vacancies in the field of data analytics but then the positions required highly skilled persons tough to find in the industry. Being the chairman of Business Roundtable, he has been formally invited to the White House many times. He was also a part of the state dinner kept in honor of the French President.
