Disruptions arrive without warning, whether it is a cyberattack, a major technology failure, a natural disaster, or a third-party outage, and sooner or later, every organization gets tested. Most companies believe they are ready. Whether they actually are, and whether American and international firms prepare differently, is what this survey set out to measure.
Fusion Risk Management surveyed employees of large organizations around the world about how their companies prepare for emergencies and where they fall short. The emergency preparedness statistics below come from that survey, and the picture they paint is one of confidence outpacing readiness.
Key Findings At A Glance
- More than 1 in 4 American employees (28%) said their company is not prepared for an emergency.
- Roughly 1 in 5 organizations had no written emergency preparedness plan (24% in the US, 18% internationally).
- Cyber threats were the top concern in every region, with major technology failures and natural disasters close behind.
- 28% of American employees said their plan is not regularly tested or updated, versus 19% internationally.
- 22% of American employees said they receive no emergency preparedness training at all, versus 15% internationally.
Survey Methodology
Fusion surveyed 1,000 full-time employees of large public and private companies, split evenly between 500 American and 500 international respondents, in August 2024. Respondents spanned a range of industries, were 49% female, 49% male, and 2% non-binary, and ranged in age from 18 to 73, with an average age of 36. When citing this research, please attribute it by linking to this study and citing fusionrm.com.
How Prepared Are Companies For Emergencies?
More than 1 in 4 American employees said their company is not prepared for an emergency, and international employees were nearly as doubtful. Most people believe their organization is ready. A sizable minority on both sides of the Atlantic do not, and that gap between belief and readiness is where the risk sits.
In the survey, 28% of American employees said their company is not prepared to handle an emergency, against 23% internationally. Written plans followed the same shape: 76% of US employees reported a written emergency preparedness plan, compared with 82% abroad, which still leaves roughly 1 in 5 organizations with nothing documented. Cyber threats led the list of worries in every region, with major technology failures and natural disasters close behind. Closing the gap usually starts with a written plan and a real business continuity and operational resilience program behind it. The infographic below breaks down preparedness, perceived threats, and written-plan coverage by region.
How Often Do Companies Test And Update Their Plans?
A written plan is only as good as the last time it was tested, and this is where the survey found the widest gap. Plenty of plans exist on paper. Far fewer get exercised, refreshed, or backed by real training.
Most companies said they update their plan once a year, but 28% of American employees and 19% of international employees said their plan is not regularly tested or updated at all. Drill participation told a similar story, with 59% of American employees having taken part in a drill or simulation, against 71% abroad. Training gaps ran the same way: 22% of American employees said they receive no emergency preparedness training, compared with 15% internationally. The breakdown below covers update frequency, drill participation, the most common drills, and the training gap.
Where Companies Say They Fall Short
Asked to name their own weak spot, employees pointed to people and communication, not technology. The survey also showed how unevenly companies prioritize risk in the first place, and how often they bring in outside help.
American employees most often named inadequate staff training (29%) and poor communication during a crisis (26%) as their company’s Achilles heel. The approach to risk management varied widely, too: about 1 in 4 American companies (25%) said they have no formal process for prioritizing risk at all, more than the 14% reported internationally. International companies were also far more likely to bring in outside expertise, with 70% partnering with external experts or consultants against 54% in the US. And experience is common: 48% of American and 55% of international employees have lived through an emergency on the job, while 29% of American and 23% of international employees said their company was hit by the CrowdStrike outage.
What The Data Tells Us
One pattern runs through the whole survey. Companies are reasonably good at writing a plan down. They are much worse at testing it, training people on it, and being ready to act on it quickly, and on several measures, American organizations lag their international peers.
That untested plan is the real exposure. By the time it is finally needed, dependencies have shifted, contact lists are stale, and the people who are supposed to act have never practiced. A plan that lives only on paper is a long way from being ready, and readiness has to be maintained, much like the business it protects.
From Preparedness Gaps To Tested Resilience
Closing the gap means moving from plans that sit on a shelf to resilience that is modeled, tested, and ready to run. That is the problem Fusion is built to solve.
Fusion keeps plans tied to how the business actually works, through a continuously curated service-and-dependency model. It pressure-tests them with scenario simulation against severe but plausible events, which directly answers the 28% of companies whose plans are never really tested. And when something does happen, it coordinates a crisis and incident response that shows what is impacted, what happens next, and what to prioritize at decision speed. Paired with a living business continuity program, that is what turns a written plan into a tested capability, which is the heart of enterprise resilience. For the wider market picture behind these findings, see The Enterprise Resilience Report.
Take the Resilience Assessment to see how ready your organization is.
Methodology
In August 2024, we surveyed 500 American and 500 international full-time employees of large private and public companies in various industries to understand how prepared their organizations are to handle emergencies or risks.
Respondents were 49% female, 49% male, and 2% non-binary with an age range of 18 to 73 and an average age of 36.
Fair Use
When using this data and research, please attribute by linking to this study and citing fusionrm.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of companies are prepared for emergencies?
In Fusion’s survey, 28% of American employees said their company is not prepared for an emergency, and 23% of international employees said the same. Belief usually runs ahead of reality here, since far fewer companies actually test the plans they rely on.
What do companies see as their biggest weakness in emergency preparedness?
People and communication, more than technology. American employees most often named inadequate staff training (29%) and poor communication during a crisis (26%) as their company’s Achilles heel, which points to a training and coordination problem rather than a tooling one.
How often do companies test and update their emergency plans?
Most updates once a year, but a real share never does. In the survey, 28% of American employees and 19% of international employees said their emergency plan is not regularly tested or updated, which is how a plan drifts out of date without anyone noticing.
Do companies bring in outside help for emergency and risk management?
Often, and more so abroad. 70% of international companies partner with external experts or consultants for risk management, compared with 54% in the US, a notable transatlantic gap in how readily companies seek outside expertise.
How many companies were affected by the CrowdStrike outage?
In the survey, 29% of American employees and 23% of international employees said their company was affected by the CrowdStrike incident. It is a useful reminder that a single technology failure can ripple across thousands of organizations at once.
How does US emergency preparedness compare with international preparedness?
On most measures, international organizations were modestly ahead: higher written-plan coverage (82% versus 76%), higher drill participation (71% versus 59%), a smaller training gap (15% versus 22% with no training), and more use of outside experts. American organizations led on active shooter preparedness specifically.
How do disaster preparedness plans for data centers and technology providers compare?
Technology and service providers carry preparedness risk differently, because their uptime is their product and a single failure can cascade to many customers at once. See how that plays out for technology and service providers.
Turn your plan into tested resilience
See how Fusion helps organizations close the gap between having a plan and being ready. Request a demo or take the Resilience Assessment.
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