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On the endangered species list: COOs?

Published: Sep 22, 2009

Pursuant to this post from earlier today, chief operating officers, and others who serve as the immediate right hand to the chief executive, may want to consider the benefits of part-timer-dom as well. (That is, if the unthinkable happens, and if they have some financial expertise to their credit.)

A recent report marks a decline in the number of COOs in existence, as the position has been eliminated at a significant number of firms. Over the course of the decade, a No. 2 was in residence at about 48% of a sample of 670 large public companies; now that number is down to 42%. This phenomenon is especially common when the operating officer is promoted to CEO, and the vacuum left behind him is promptly sealed shut by management.

--Posted by Todd Obolsky, Vault Staff Writer

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