The 2025 Middle Market Survey report from UHY, shows the majority of business owners have at least some optimism when it comes to the state of business in 2025. The survey, which polled more than 275 executives across the public and private middle market – spanning sectors such as automotive, construction, financial services, healthcare and more – looks into the key trends, challenges and successes that businesses are set to experience in 2025.
Key findings in this year’s report include:
Middle market cautiously optimistic on economic outlook in 2025
Per the study’s findings, while only 33% percent of middle market executives are bullish and “strongly optimistic” about the economic outlook for 2025, 48% say that they are at least “moderately optimistic” about the economic landscape for the year ahead. That said, 19% still said that they were “less optimistic” for the US economy than they were last year.
AI utilization growing in middle market; viewed as biggest technology disruptor for businesses
Roughly 61% of respondents said that they use AI as part of their businesses today in various capacities. Aside from those that are utilizing it, when asked what was believed to be the most impactful technology on their industry in the year ahead, 62% cited AI and machine learning, followed by 5G and advanced network connectivity (14%) and blockchain (13%).
More than half of middle market businesses have experienced a cyber attack
Per the study’s results, 51% of respondents said their organizations had experienced an attempted network breach by cybercriminals. Furthermore, 79% of respondents said that their organizations are planning to increase their spending on cybersecurity in the year ahead – with 26% of those respondents saying that their organizations would increase their spending by more than 20%.
Outsourced accounting resources are becoming more popular
Dating back to 2022, Middle Market Survey participants responded overwhelmingly that they had not considered an outsourced accounting solution. Data collection in 2024 showed that 45% now utilize outsourced resources or a combination of internal and outsourced accounting function. This trend is another indication of technology adoption among businesses and within the middle market specifically.
Only 50% of middle markets expect to see heightened growth in 2025
According to the results, only 51% of respondents said they expect their organization will experience higher growth in 2025 than it did in 2024, while 12% said that they expect their growth will shrink in comparison to 2024.
This builds on insights from UHY’s 2024 Middle Market Survey which showed that 82 percent of survey participants labeled their growth as either aggressive, cautious, or conservative with the remaining 18 percent forecasting that they would maintain their current growth.
To download the full 2025 Middle Market Survey report please visit: https://uhy-us.com/insights/news/2023/december/2025-middle-market-survey-evolution-optimism-and-uncertainty.
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Tags: Accounting, Small Business
