According to a recent Sentry report, 47% of business leaders are optimistic their companies will thrive this year; however, a majority (67%) admit they’re feeling more stressed compared to last year.

Heading into 2025, 82% of executives at larger companies report higher stress levels, compared to 68% of executives at smaller businesses. Nearly half (47%) of executives cite economic uncertainty as their biggest worry, along with supply chain challenges (44%), rising healthcare costs (41%), labor shortages (38%), and inflation (36%).

Alongside economic and labor factors, 72% expressed concerns about rising litigation and multi-million-dollar verdicts in their industry. Additionally, 90% say their business has been affected by severe weather in the past five years, with nearly two-thirds citing outages that left company, customer, or vendor systems temporarily inoperable.

Nearly all (97%) have put off upgrades recently due to cost pressures or scarce resources — including updates to equipment (48%), cybersecurity systems (47%), or technology (46%). As businesses prepare to do more with less, 81% of executives admit employees are being assigned tasks above their role and training level.

As executives prepare to overcome growing outside threats, many are seeking to lower their risk. 74% of executives aren’t completely confident their company’s current insurance is adequate — with 42% of executives looking to expand their coverage. Meanwhile, 82% of executives plan to boost investments in worker safety during 2025.

Read the report.

https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/101349-47-of-organizations-have-put-off-cybersecurity-upgrades