Executives with strong risk management and cost-cutting skills as well as excellent communication are being sought after as the Australian economy slows down, making businesses and staff trickier to manage.

Transurban chairman Craig Drummond was frank last week that “now was a good time” for CEO Scott Charlton, who has negotiated many multibillion-dollar toll road deals for the toll road group in an environment of low interest rates and cheap debt over the past 11 years, to move on.