Dickinson tells CFOworld that he believes that the survey also reveals a sense among CFOs that skill sets have changed for the people most needed to turn things around. "What they're saying is, When we do bring people back in, we're going to go for the people we really need," says Dickinson. "We got that indication loud and clear in the fourth quarter."

Evidence in the survey seemed to be strong, in Deloitte's view, that even that the CFO high optimism level could contribute to companies reaching their goals for additional hiring.

CFOs saying they had a more positive outlook about their companies' progress rose to 62% from 53% during the fourth quarter. Only 16% said they were less optimistic than they were in the previous quarter, which Deloitte said was the lowers level over the four quarters of its survey.

On the numbers side of the latest questionnaire, the finance executives projected gains of 8.2% in sales and 12.6% in earnings year-to-year for their companies -- up from 6.5% and 12%, respectively at the end of 2010. Still, Deloitte noted that both sales and earnings projections are substantially lower than estimates from the middle quarters of 2010, "possibly indication that many of the strongest recovery gains have already been achieved," according to the press release accompanying the report.

Sanford Cockrell III, Deloitte's national managing partner for the CFO Program, said in the release, "With cash on their balance sheets and cost efficiency gains largely accounted for, many companies are now heavily focused on top-line growth. Having ridden a wave of recovery-related improvements for the past few quarters, companies are seeking growth on their own terms."