CFO turnover reached new heights early this year, in sharp contrast to relatively stable rates for most of 2007. Resignations and retirements were up 15% in January and February from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Liberum Research. Some 110 CFOs resigned or retired in the first two months of this year, up from a total of 95 in 2007. “The pressures that have come to bear on CFOs are tremendous,” notes Susan Rucker, COO of executive services firm Tatum LLC. “Many times, those pressures result in CFOs being so dissatisfied with their jobs that they leave, or [in] CEOs being so dissatisfied with CFOs’ jobs that they force them to leave.”
Of course, CFOs have been under increasing stress since Sarbanes-Oxley required them to certify the accuracy of all financial statements. “When you’re managing a staff of 100 and have operations in 30 countries around the world, the pressures are enormous,” notes Allen Geller, managing director at Raines International in New York. “It’s not just a question of knowing all the pieces; it’s a question of knowing how they all fit together.” Lately, that task has become even more daunting as the downside risks from such trends as the subprime credit crunch, rising commodity prices, a slowing economy and harsher penalties connected to the options backdating scandal have raised the stakes for most senior finance executives.
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