Recession Inevitable, CEOs Of U.S. Firms, Banks Say

The big tax advisory firm KPMG says 91% of CEOs anticipate a US recession in the next 12 months — and only one-third believe it will be "mild and short," Hannah Towey and Jason Lalljee reported for Business Insider.

Photo Insert: FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam also told CNBC that “we’re barreling toward a worldwide recession."

FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam also told CNBC that “we’re barreling toward a worldwide recession."

FedEx has announced a slew of aggressive cost-cutting measures, including closing 90 retail locations and five corporate offices, as well as freezing hiring.

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon is perhaps the loudest of the recession soothsayers. In June, he estimated there's a 20- to 30% chance of a "harder recession" and a 20- to 30% chance of "something worse."

Most recently, he predicted the downturn will be much softer than the economic "hurricane" he originally forewarned. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon stressed the "global economy continues to face significant headwinds" and the US would suffer from a recession.

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing thinks the German economy is resilient. "We will no longer be able to avert a recession in Germany," Sewing said in September. "Yet we believe that our economy is resilient enough to cope well with this recession — provided the central banks act quickly and decisively now."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company had to lay off 1,000 workers in late October, in an uncommonly large set of layoffs for the company. Microsoft's stock has also fallen 29% since January, along with many other tech companies.

"None of us are immune to macroeconomic headwinds," Nadella admitted and every company needs to "do more with less," such as smaller operating expenses.

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