CEOs are more optimistic about the global economy this year, but attracting and retaining talent remains the top concern for CEOs as well as the entire C-suite, according to The Conference Board’s “C-Suite Challenge 2018” report. Executives are also looking at greater use of nontraditional workers, including contingent workers and robotic process automation.

“To cope with worker and skill shortages down the road, this year’s survey results tell us that organizations are fundamentally rethinking the composition of their future workforces,” said Rebecca Ray, report co-author and executive VP, Knowledge Organization at The Conference Board. “Nearly 80 percent of CHRO respondents foresee greater use of contingent non-traditional employees. Moreover, three-quarters of them anticipate a rise in digital labor solutions such as robotic process automation.”

The report is based on a survey of more than 1,000 business leaders. Other findings in the report include that fears of a global recession have plummeted; the second-highest concern (after talent) is creating new business models because of disruptive technologies.

“Businesses appear to be starting 2018 with a healthy sense of confidence, a sentiment reinforced by our recent projection of three percent global economic growth for this year,” said Bart van Ark, report co-author and chief economist of The Conference Board. “However, the optimism remains tempered by a few factors — among them, a continuation of geopolitical and social tensions, uncertainty around global policy issues, talent shortages, and the disruption caused by emerging technologies.”

The index of U.S. leading economic indicators declined 0.1 percent in January, the Conference Board said on Thursday, but it advised that some of the components of the index were estimated due to the government shutdown.