Brazilian businesspeople are optimistic about the economic outlook for this year. That's what the Global Business Overview research revealed, carried out by EESP in partnership with Duke University and CFO Magazine, and with the support of BMFBovespa and the Brazilian Institute of Finance Executives (IBEF).

According to the survey, revenue, investments and profits are indicators of a more robust growth next year. The country's companies also plan to increase the number and salary of employees over the next 12 months, but are hindered by a lack of skilled labor. There has been a mismatch between the need for employees in the companies and the employees? skills, explains Klenio Barbosa, an economics professor at the School and co-director of the research.

The good news is that, according to the survey, employers are willing to train their staff.Although 76% of the companies have reduced investments in training workers over the past few years, 100% of these companies plan on increasing training expenses to levels above recent historical levels, said the professor. Moreover, almost 80% of companies plan on paying bonuses to employees at the end of 2013.

The study also shows that Latin American economies are significantly interconnected. 60% of CFOs of Brazilian companies say that a slower growth in the rest of Latin America would hurt their businesses and approximately 75% of companies in the other countries of the region say that a slower growth in Brazil would harm their businesses in 2013.

Overall, optimism has become stronger in Latin America. The study shows that the region's businesspeople give 66 points for their optimism in relation to the economies of their countries, versus 60 in the last quarter. In Mexico, Chile and Peru, this index reaches 75. The exception lies with the Argentine businesspeople, who are less optimistic, with an index of 49. But the optimism of Brazilian businesspeople is still stable at 60.

The research was completed on December 7, 2012 and received the participation of 896 CFOs from around the world - of these, 172 in Latin America and 59 in Brazil.