CEO turnover at telcos the highest globally

Almost one in 10 CEOs at telecoms service providers were last year forced out of their jobs, the highest figure across all sectors. And despite high-profile bankruptcies and scandals, the US actually trails Europe and Asia in increases in CEO turnover.

Those are two of the findings to come out of research by Booz Allen Hamilton, which paints a picture of increasingly demanding boards and shareholders judging CEOs strictly on performance.

While 9.4 per cent of telecoms CEOs were forced out globally in 2002, financial services saw the least amount of ousting with a steady-as-she-goes 1.5 per cent for the 1995 to 2002 period. IT CEOs came in at 4.7 per cent in 2002 and for the same seven-year stretch they head the figures at 4.3 per cent - despite boom times during those years for the sector.

David Newkirk, London-based senior VP at Booz Allen Hamilton said business leaders are under scrutiny and pressure "unseen since the Great Depression".

He added: "The CEO mystique has all but evaporated. This phenomenon is now fully global, even in regions not burdened by governance scandals."

A spokesman for the Confederation of British Industry said: "This emphasises the extreme pressures CEOs are under to perform now. There is greater shareholder influence than ever before. The timescale which a CEO has to prove him or herself appears to be getting shorter and the pressure is greatest where the climate of change is quickest."

Among the other findings were that outside CEOs are more at risk than those appointed from within, and that most companies' top dogs are greyer than a few years ago - the average age of CEOs leaving office in 2002 was 58.1, as against 57.1 in 2001 and 56.8 in 2000.

The Booz Allen report 'CEO Succession 2003: Deliver or Depart' is being published on 1 June in the firm's quarterly journal strategy+business.