Some three fourths of US chief financial officers report a difficult hiring environment that has prompted them to increase wages, according to a survey by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond, Virginia and Atlanta.

Hiring difficulties were even more pressing than supply chain challenges, according to the CFOs. The survey found 74% reported their companies are having difficulty filling open positions, and 82% of those firms are raising starting wages by an average of 9.8% in an attempt to fill vacancies. In addition, 33% are implementing or exploring automation to replace workers.

CFO optimism has also moderated when it comes to the economy. When asked to rank optimism about the overall US economy on a scale of zero to 100, the average rating from CFOs was 59.9, down from 69.0 in a similar survey in the second quarter.

Also, when it comes to supply chains, only 10% anticipated difficulties would be resolved by the end of this year. Most anticipate these difficulties won’t be resolved until the second half of 2022 or later.

The survey included 1,083 CFOs across the US.