By Michael Oneal | Chief executives are flying out the door in
the wake of the economic downturn, according to data compiled by
Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

A 17-month high 132 CEOs left their companies nationwide during
February, the survey indicated, 48 percent more than the 89 CEO changes
announced in January and 61 percent higher than the outflow in February
of last year.

“For the past 12-to-18 months, companies needed leaders who could see them through the recession,” speculated CEO John Challenger. “Now, they are reassessing and, in many cases, replacing executives with those who are better equipped to take advantage of expansion.”

February’s surge already puts the pace of CEO turnover in 2010 ahead of that in 2009. The 221 CEO changes recorded so far this year is 13 percent higher than the 196 tracked by this point a year ago, according to the report.

The biggest changes are coming in health care, which has seen 35 chief executives leave their post, 22 of them in February. The second most tumultuous sector was the government and non-profit sector where 23 CEO have left in 2010, including 15 in February. But that is down from 27 recorded CEO exits in the first two months of 2009.
Meanwhile, CEO turnover in the third-ranked energy sector has more than doubled, going from seven in January and February 2009 to 16 departures in 2010.  Several of the departures in this sector came from solar and wind component manufacturers.