Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of articles by Noto Group focused on executive hiring and company leadership development. The full series is available here.

In January 2024, Noto Group surveyed over 100 top-level executives across the athletic and outdoor, apparel and footwear, recreation, and retail consumer segments about the challenges, opportunities, leadership priorities, and trends shaping their business.

Our survey results revealed that employment in the consumer sector will remain relatively steady in 2024 despite some significant and high-profile layoffs. In addition, survey respondents are seeing talent availability ease slightly, allowing companies to take advantage of a moment in the market to hire previously unavailable talent. Companies requiring employees to return to the office will continue to have a disadvantage compared to those that maintain hybrid and remote flexibility.

Overall, there was a theme of cautious optimism as companies focus on profitability and team performance. The stakes are high as the call for new leadership capabilities in our complex, changing, and uncertain world continues to grow.

Here are the key takeaways:

• Organizations are finding it slightly easier to identify and hire top talent, yet some familiar challenges remain—most notably, relocation hurdles, compensation, and availability and quality of talent. Moreover, it’s still difficult finding qualified talent in marketing, e-commerce, and product creation disciplines.
• Hybrid is here to stay, with few changes in one direction or the other. Almost two thirds (64%) of respondents say their current office arrangement for the majority of employees is hybrid. A little over a quarter (26%) require employees to be fully in the office, while 10% say they’re completely remote.
• Profitability and go-to-market strategy are the top business imperatives as many companies attempt to bounce back from a period of excess inventory and mediocre profits.
• Hiring activity remains relatively steady with 37% of survey respondents expecting to hire for new roles and 38% planning to fill vacant positions in the first half of the year. The total volume of openings will be tempered with 20% of employers planning to pause hiring and 9% planning to eliminate jobs during the same time period. Executives we surveyed expect the hiring picture to strengthen further in the second half of 2024.
• Larger companies (with annual revenues of over $1 billion) are more likely to limit hiring, freeze hiring, or reduce headcount in comparison to companies under $1 billion that are stabilizing and adding headcount as they lean into new growth initiatives.
• Developing executive competencies in the areas of change management, leadership development, relationship building, and teamwork is a priority going into 2024. This is very similar to what we learned last year.

To read the full survey results and our analysis of what it means for your business, click here.

About the Survey
In January 2024, Noto Group surveyed 108 consumer sector executives with hiring oversight in the athletic and outdoor, apparel and footwear, recreation, and retail consumer segments.

Of the survey participants, 12% of respondents work for companies with annual revenues of $1-$10 million, 29% at $11-$50 million, 26% at $51-$200 million, 10% at $201-500 million, 4% at $501 million-1 billion, and 19% over $1 billion.

More than half (52%) of the respondents are C-Suite executives; 30% are SVPs, VPs, general managers, and presidents; 15% are directors or senior directors; and 3% are other.

About Noto Group
Noto Group is an industry-leading executive search and leadership consulting firm. Over the past decade, we have worked with more than 225 notable brands in the athletic, outdoor, food & beverage, and healthy living consumer sectors.

Our clients turn to us when they need to recruit, select, and integrate exceptional leaders in response to rapid growth, a new initiative, a turn-around, or change in strategy. We are proud to be a Certified B Corporation since 2013.

Need help with your executive search? Contact us at: [email protected]

For more executive hiring advice and insights, be sure to check out our How I Hire podcast.