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January 3, 2022 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK SURVEY

Survey: HBJ readers are more bullish about 2022

By Greg Bordonaro
Click here to see the results of our readers survey An economist and investment officer with NBT Wealth Management finds cause for cautious optimism in '22.
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It goes without saying that the last 20 months have been challenging, as COVID-19 and its variants have impacted every business in every sector.

The good news is vaccination rates are high in Connecticut, hopefully helping the state beat back the virus, and HBJ’s readers are more optimistic about 2022 than they’ve been in a long time.

In fact, 66% of HBJ readers say Connecticut’s economy will improve next year. Last year, only 42% of HBJ readers predicted the economy would improve in 2021.

Meanwhile, 71% of readers think the state’s economy is in better shape than it was a year ago, while nearly 50% say they plan to hire additional staff in 2022.

Those were some of the findings from Hartford Business Journal’s 2022 economic outlook survey, the results of which are featured in this special pullout section.

Click here to see the results of our readers survey

The survey, sponsored by NBT Bank, was emailed to more than 10,000 HBJ Today subscribers. The unscientific results were gathered over a three-week period in November, and garnered 313 respondents.

Greg Bordonaro

Of those surveyed, 76% said they work at privately-held companies and 65% said their business has fewer than 50 employees.

The results provide a window into how the region’s economy will perform in 2022.

Other notable survey results include:

46.5% of respondents said they can’t find qualified workers to fill open positions, confirming that the workforce shortage still remains a drag on the economy.

55% of respondents said they will have to raise wages in the year ahead to attract employees.

Despite concerns about office space downsizing, nearly 65% of respondents said they don’t plan to make changes to their real estate in 2022. Yet, 70% of respondents said they will allow their employees to work from home this year on a part- or full-time basis.

Click here to see the results of our readers survey

We hope you find the survey results informative and we wish you good luck and health in the year ahead.

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