CEO departures hit 20-year high as recession bites

If you thought 2021 was a busy time for CEO departures , brace yourself – 2022 has just got a whole lot busier . According to a recent report from Challenger , Gray & Christmas , Inc ., 668 CEOs left their roles at U . S . companies between January and May 2022 , marking the highest total of CEO departures in this time period since 2002 , when the firm began tracking this metric . It is also 24 % higher than the 539 CEO departures within the same time last year .

“ The CEO exodus continues ,” declares Andrew Challenger , SVP of Challenger , Gray & Christmas , attributing the shifts to current economic conditions , such as rising inflation and recession concerns , and to people re-evaluating their priorities post-pandemic .

While all industries have been impacted , from tech to aviation to automotive , the struggling retail , restaurant and fashion industries have seen significant CEO turnover of late . Among recent CEO departures are Ben Silberman from Pinterest ; Kevin Johnson from Starbucks , Sonia Syngal from Gap ( pictured above ), and Herbert Diess from Volkswagen .

� DIGITAL SKILLS GAP Google and AARP team up to help people aged 50 + improve their digital skills to remain employed for longer . Set to pilot across eight US states , and expand nationally thereafter , the program will target 25,000 people , and will focus on women and people of colour .

� IBM Hands together for IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna who has been voted best male CEO for women in 2022 , according to Comparably which measures employee feedback . Arvind is known for leading with empathy and emotional intelligence .

� ECONOMIC OUTLOOK The majority of CEOs ( 60 %) believe their geographic region will enter a recession by the end of 2023 , a survey from The Conference Board finds . While 15 % of CEOs say they believe their region has already entered recession .

� FEMALE LEADERSHIP Following the step-down of Sonia Syngal in July as CEO of Gap Inc ., there are now just 43 female CEOs on the Fortune 500 . Sonia ’ s departure followed Nancy Green ’ s just months prior from her role as CEO of Old Navy .