The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), the peak group representing national employers, has revealed that business leaders are cautiously hopeful for 2022 despite the seriousness of the anticipated disruptions. The report for Australian CEOs expectations was based on a survey conducted across Australia in October 2021, which received 346 responses from CEOs of businesses that employ just under 120,000 people. Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said it was clear from the results that CEOs are expecting their businesses to face fresh COVID-19-related disruptions in 2022. These include additional supply chain challenges, intensifying skill shortages, and a continuation of cost pressures seen in 2021. “As we discuss in the report, these expectations and their expectations of being able to pass some of these higher costs on to customers puts business leaders at odds with the relatively benign inflation outlook anticipated by the official economic agencies,” Willox said. “The inflation outlook …