Companies in the first half of 2021 appointed a record number of CEOs, making up for a significant slowdown in the second half of 2020, according to the 2021 Route to the Top report from Heidrick & Struggles.

The global report also shows that compared to their predecessors, new CEOs are more likely to be women 11%, to be from countries other than where the company is headquartered 30% and to have cross-border experience 46%.

The annual study of CEO placements provides an analysis of the profiles of the 1,095 CEOs at the largest publicly listed companies in 24 markets as of July 5, 2021.

Included in the report’s data are companies from Australia and New Zealand, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The United Arab Emirates report also shows that 42% of the new CEOs have advanced degrees, and 16% have cross-border experience, while 23% have less than one year of experience as CEOs.

The findings from this year’s report show that trends in UAE are in line with global standards in most areas, however when it comes to non-national CEOs, UAE stands out with 42% compared to 24% globally. It’s also worth mentioning that the first half of 2021 shows a record number of CEO appointments globally, the highest since 2018.

Additional findings from the UAE Route to the Top 2021 report include:

• Profile of CEOs in the UAE in 2021 shows they were 49 years old at the time of appointment, and 42% were appointed before the age of 45; Hold 5.9 years of average tenure; Average age now is 55.
• Over one-third of CEOs with previous C-suite experience appointed in the UAE in the first half of 2021 35% came from a previous CEO role; 30% of the CEOs appointed were formerly heads of divisions; Only 2% had previous COO experience, compared to 14% globally
• Diversity in the corner office; Women make up 5% of CEOs in the UAE today, almost on par with 6% globally; Sweden has the highest percentage of CEOs with cross-sector experience 45% while CEOs in the United Arab Emirates have the lowest share 12%
• 56% of CEOs in the UAE were internally appointed in 2021; Compared to 65% of internal CEO hires globally.

Looking ahead, Covid-19 has raised expectations on the role of businesses in addressing concerns such as climate, equality, cybersecurity and other external realities; boards are rethinking the process of the CEO succession to cope with these changes. This means that companies will open up to new perspectives and ideas. In addition, we expect more attention to shift towards leadership skills rather than specific skills.