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Manufacturing firms turn to outside leaders for CEO and MD roles, reshaping digital supply chains
Economy
Published on 24 April 2026
Most top manufacturing hires weren’t promoted internally
A new report finds manufacturing companies are increasingly appointing leaders from outside, with CEO and MD roles seeing the most frequent changes. The trend suggests firms are gearing up for digital transformation and building new supply chains. Automotive recorded the highest leadership activity. Women more often rise via internal promotions, yet remain underrepresented overall.
- External appointments dominate the most senior manufacturing roles
- CEO and MD leadership changes are happening most often
- Digital transformation and new supply chains appear to drive hiring
- Women lag overall despite stronger internal promotion rates
Read the full story at The Economic Times
This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on 
The Economic Times