Hub business leaders are less optimistic about the national and local economies than they were a year ago, but more expect to ramp up hiring in the year ahead, according to a new survey.
Of the roughly 400 business leaders who attended the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s annual economic outlook breakfast yesterday, more than half — 57 percent — said they expect either a significant or a slight increase in their hiring plans for this region in 2013, compared to 50 percent last year.
“There’s ample reason to be optimistic,” state Treasurer Steve Grossman told the group. “We have an asset here that is more important than any other in the country: human capital.”
Jorge Moran, CEO of Sovereign Bank and parent Santander Holdings USA, said the company has 3,000 employees in Massachusetts and expects that number to grow.
Eight percent of business leaders surveyed, however, said they expect either a significant or a slight decrease in hiring, although that’s an improvement over last year’s 9 percent.
Those who do plan to hire may not find it so easy. Business leaders said the top challenges facing the region are the cost of living, followed by the cost of health care and deteriorating infrastructure.
“Employers in the Boston area are finding they have to pay people more because of the cost of living here, especially the cost of housing,” Andre Mayer, senior vice president of research for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said in an interview. “It’s difficult to recruit people from other parts of the country where the cost of living is lower, and it’s difficult to get people who are already here to stay.”
A majority of business leaders said they believe the national economy will improve over the next 12 months, but they’re less optimistic than they were last year. Sixty-four percent said they expect the economy to be either much better or somewhat better, down from 72 percent in 2012.
Business leaders were more optimistic about the Greater Boston economy, with 70 percent saying they expect it to be much better or somewhat better. But that percentage also was down — from 81 percent — since last year.
Grossman said banks finance growth, and the banking system in Massachusetts is doing “extraordinarily well.”