Most chief financial officers in Orange County believe their companies will add workers this year, according to a survey released Monday.
Spending on technology is likely to stay the same or decline slightly and housing prices are expected to rise again in 2006, according to the first survey by the OC chapter of Financial Executives International, in association with the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University in Orange.
On job growth, the survey found that 52% of executives polled expect their companies to record more job growth than a year ago. Some 44% expect the same level of jobs while 3% see fewer jobs at their companies.
Meanwhile, about 60% of OC respondents expect technology spending to be the same or lower than last year. Some 37% see higher spending on technology products and services.
“Conventional wisdom has been that technology spending already is on the rise, and will continue to increase this year, yet this survey conveys a hesitation,” said Rhonda Longmore-Grund, president of the local Financial Executives International chapter and vice president in charge of finance and business operations at Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc.
Although the cost of housing was cited as the biggest barrier to doing business in OC, the financial executives were bullish on housing prices.
Some 57% of respondents expect prices to continue increasing this year, with 25% seeing a static market and 17% forecasting a decline.
About one-third of the 165 local Financial Executives International members responded to the survey.
