Half of CIOs planning to leave by 2020

More than half of the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) at the world’s top companies by revenue expect to leave within the next three years, according to research from Korn Ferry International.

However, firms may not be prepared to deal with the potential exodus. The survey of 199 CIOs last year found that, despite 58% expecting to leave by 2020, just 48% thought there was a solid succession plan in place.

Previous Korn Ferry research found that the average CIO tenure across all industries is 4.3 years, shorter than Chief Executives, at 8 years, and Chief Financial Officers, at 5.1 years.

Gerry McNamara, Global Managing Director in the technology officers practice at Korn Ferry, said that companies that pull back funding for large digital projects or that become complacent about using technology risk losing CIOs.