Are CEOs Hunkering Down?

Are C-Suites hunkering down? Or perhaps the storm hasn't hit just yet?

With all the turmoil (at this writing the Dow was down more than 500 points), it may be a surprise to learn that executive turnover is actually slowing.

That's the consensus of a Libernum Research Services report for the third quarter of 2008. It found that CEO turnover was down 13 percent; CFO turnover was down 21 percent; and total C-Suite turnover, including boards and vice presidents, was down 23 percent. These levels are compared against the third quarter of 2007.

What to make of this? It could be that the financial crisis hasn't had time to impact the turnover rates just yet. In coming months, the levels could well rise dramatically.

Or, counterintuitively, in bad times, folks hunker down. There are fewer jobs to jump to. Firms may want to stick with what they know and who they know until the crisis dissipates.

Do you feel safe?