RGP Pulse Survey Highlights Impact of Lower Interest Rates on Corporate Investment
Poll of
More than half of financial decision makers (51%) polled after the Fed’s September meeting expect their organization to increase some investments before the end of 2024, while four in five (81%) expect to increase investments by the first half of 2025. Respondents cited business process optimization and automation as the top area of increased investment if a lower interest rate environment were to unlock new capital in 2025, followed by digital transformation and AI.
“Many organizations entered the first quarter of the year with the expectation that they’d be operating in a lower interest rate environment and our research shows that last month’s rate cut is having a rather immediate impact on corporate investment,” said
Shifting Workforce Strategies
Nine out of 10 financial decision makers (88%) said their organization is currently planning to increase overall investment in workforce strategy development in 2025. While 39% of organizations are focused on increasing resources to reskill and upskill existing employees, 24% are planning to increase investment in outside talent to fill skill gaps. One in five (22%) respondents reported plans to increase investment in internal headcount.
Half of financial decision makers (49%) said that a growing urgency to better leverage AI and automation could have the biggest impact on their investment in workforce development in the next 12 months. Most respondents (65%) believe that AI will account for less than 10% of job elimination within their organization in the next two years, while half (47%) expect AI to account for 11-30% of job creation in the same period.
Digital Transformation and AI Investment Remains Significant
RGP’s latest research illustrates the extent of digital transformation spending, which is expected to grow to a
Financial decision makers cited IT operations and security as the top priority within their organization’s AI investment over the next 12 months, followed by product development and innovation, and HR and talent management.
Growing Importance of ERP
The enterprise resource planning (ERP) software market is projected to grow to
Organizations are also placing greater emphasis on ERP within their M&A plans. Among organizations that are considering M&A over the next 12 months, 85% said ERP and data are important or critical factors in their search criteria.
The findings are based on a poll of 204 U.S. full-time professionals conducted
ABOUT RGP
RGP is a global professional services firm that powers the operational needs and change initiatives of its client base utilizing a combination of three distinct brands:
- On-Demand by RGP™: Our on-demand talent solutions, providing businesses with a go-to source for bringing in experts when they need them;
- Veracity by RGP™: Our consulting arm, driving transformation across people, processes & technology; and
- Countsy by RGP™: Our outsourced services for accounting, human resources and equity, helping startups, scaleups and spinouts focus on their growth.
Regardless of engagement model, we Dare to Work Differently® by leveraging human connection and collaboration to deliver practical solutions and impactful results. We offer a more effective way to work that favors flexibility and agility as businesses confront change and transformation pressures amid skilled labor shortages.
Based in
The Company is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the exchange’s highest tier by listing standards. To learn more about RGP, visit: https://rgp.com. (RGP-F)
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2 Fortune Business Insights: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Market Source: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enterprise-resource-planning-erp-software-market-102498
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241024467630/en/
Investor Contact:
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jennifer.ryu@rgp.com
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Financial Profiles
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Source: RGP
