The 2027 confidence gap: How US business leaders really see the year ahead

Heading into 2027, US business leaders are holding two very different outlooks at once. Most are wary of where the US economy is going, yet most feel good about their own company’s year ahead. That gap, between how leaders rate the country and how they rate themselves, runs through the whole year.

To see how leaders really feel, we surveyed 303 US business decision-makers, from directors to C-suite and business owners. Their answers point to a year shaped as much by AI as by hiring, from where companies expect to grow to which teams they plan to change.

Key takeaways

• Over 3 in 5 US business leaders (61%) are pessimistic about the US economy heading into 2027.
• Nearly 3 in 5 US business leaders (58%) are optimistic about their own company’s year ahead.
• Over 2 in 5 US business leaders (41%) expect AI to mean fewer entry-level hires in 2027.
• Nearly 2 in 5 US business leaders (39%) plan to freeze or reduce at least one team in 2027.
• Nearly 1 in 3 US business leaders (32%) think other companies will cut jobs in 2027 while their own will not.
• Sales and revenue leaders were more optimistic about jobs, with 49% expecting no company like theirs to cut jobs in 2027, compared with 35% of all leaders.
• Nearly 3 in 10 US business leaders (29%) say their main 2027 growth plan is using AI to do more without adding staff.
• About 1 in 5 US business leaders (21%) plan to freeze or reduce their finance team in 2027.

Leaders are wary of the economy but confident in their own company

Ask leaders about the US economy and the mood turns cautious. Ask about their own company, and it flips.


Here is how that split played out:

• Over 3 in 5 US business leaders (61%) were pessimistic about the US economy heading into 2027.
• Nearly 3 in 5 US business leaders (58%) were optimistic about their own company’s year ahead.
• Nearly 1 in 3 US business leaders (32%) thought other companies would cut jobs in 2027 while their own would not.
• Directors were the most pessimistic about the economy at 67%, followed by business owners at 64% and C-suite leaders at 43%.
• Younger leaders were the most optimistic about their own company, with 65% of Gen Z, 61% of millennials, 56% of Gen X, and 44% of boomers feeling good about the year ahead.

AI is reshaping entry-level hiring

The clearest sign of AI’s reach shows up at the bottom of the hiring ladder.

What leaders told us about AI and hiring:

• Over 2 in 5 US business leaders (41%) expected AI to mean fewer entry-level hires in 2027.
• Nearly 3 in 10 US business leaders (29%) said their main 2027 growth plan was using AI to do more without adding staff.
• Leaders at companies with 1,000 or more employees were the most likely to expect fewer entry-level hires because of AI at 63%, compared with 15% at companies with fewer than 10 employees.
• Gen Z leaders were the most likely to expect fewer entry-level hires at 59%, followed by Millennials at 42%, Gen X at 38% and Boomers at 28%.
• Sales and revenue leaders were less likely than average to expect fewer entry-level hires, at 26% compared with the 41% overall.

What companies plan to do with each team in 2027

Not every team is heading into 2027 the same way. We asked leaders what their company plans to do with each of seven teams, from adding people to handing work to AI.

Across the seven teams we asked about:

• Nearly 2 in 5 US business leaders (39%) planned to freeze or reduce at least one team in 2027.
• About 1 in 5 US business leaders (21%) planned to freeze or reduce their finance team in 2027.
• Companies with 250 to 999 employees were the most likely to freeze or reduce at least one team, at 57%, while the smallest companies, those with fewer than 10 employees, were the least likely, at 24%.
• Keeping teams about the same was the most common plan for every team, chosen by 39% to 48% of leaders.
• Sales was the only team more likely to grow than shrink, with 20% of leaders planning to add people to their sales team and 14% to freeze or reduce it.
• Sales and revenue leaders were the most likely to say their 2027 growth would come mostly from people, at 71% versus 45% of all leaders.

Methodology

For this campaign, we surveyed 303 US business decision makers, from directors to C-suite and business owners, to explore how they view the year ahead, from their confidence in the economy and their own company to how they plan to grow, hire, and use AI in 2027. All participants were adults 18 or older. Among them, 59% were men and 40% were women, with the remaining 1% non-binary or preferring not to say. Generationally, 11% were Gen Z, 44% were millennials, 37% were Gen X, and 8% were baby boomers.

About Firmable

Firmable is the AI-native sales intelligence platform for B2B sales teams, providing the most complete prospect data, tech intelligence, buying signals, and agent-driven actions to help you win more deals. As the salesperson’s favorite teammate, we don’t just give you data – we give you direction, whatever tool you work in.

Firmable’s agentic technology, built from the ground up, sources, assembles, and continuously refreshes a proprietary map of the market. It delivers the richest company, contact, and tech stack details, with confidence indicators, including data you won’t find anywhere else, to sales teams across the United States, Canada, and APAC.

Fair use statement

We invite you to share the findings and visuals from this study for noncommercial purposes. When you do, please link back to this page so readers can see the full research and the contributors receive proper credit.

Chester Thompson

VP, Americas, Firmable

Chester Thompson is Firmable’s growth lead in the Americas. He writes about systematically building and leading sales teams that win, especially in new and developing markets. His focus is on the structures, habits, and repeatable processes that help teams perform consistently and deliver strong long-term results.

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