The Euro crisis has spawned grave fears among Australian companies that many are too cautious to gamble on expansion and generate more jobs in the process.

This according to the latest CFO survey conducted by financial services firm Deloitte, which polled 73 chief financial officers from early December 2011 to middle of January 2012.

The Deloitte survey showed that more than 33 percent expressed grave concerns about the ongoing financial woes that batter Europe, which economists said could trigger a new round of global recession this year.

While most experts believe that the projected downturn will mostly hurt economies within the Euro zone, both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had indicated that no economy is immune from the spillovers.

Both lending institutions have downgraded their global forecasts in light of the perceived difficulties, with the IMF calling on donor countries to upgrade the lender's war chest by up to $600 billion.

IMF marketing director Christine Lagarde argued for the higher resources, which she said will act as a firewall for economies most vulnerable to threats of recession.

Such sentiments only create a gloomy picture, even for Australian businesses, whose majority of CFOs expressed apprehension that additional investments this year would only go down to drain.

While the global uncertainty is almost upon us, the new Deloitte study also showed that many Aussie execs still harbour some form of optimism, with about 80 percent convinced that the problem is still manageable at this point.

Yet that take does not prevent many CFOs from implementing cautious mode on supporting the growth plans of their respective firms and instead roll out measures that specifically avert risks, the Deloitte survey said.

At this time, majority of CFOs are focused on "improving cash flows and organic growth rather than longer-term investments or acquisitions," according to Keith Skinner, himself a CFO for Deloitte.

"This ongoing uncertainty is undoubtedly hampering the growth prospects of many companies," Skinner told The Herald Sun on Monday.

The long term result, he added, is the likelihood of higher unemployment rate for much of 2012, a scenario that would follow the significant loss of jobs recorded last year.

Deloitte said that the outlook is so grim that eight out of 10 CFO admitted on its survey that they will implement a freeze on hiring this year.

These executives cited the tightening credit availability and the high costs that come with them, in the event that they can be secured at all.

The situation in Europe is so dim that companies are not too inclined to invest, with many CFOs in the Deloitte survey lamenting that no expressed improvements in the local economy was registered last year.

And further declines are expected this year as 45 percent of CFOs polled by Deloitte have projected that their operating margins will shrink by next year.

It did not help that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) responded to the crisis by reducing the country's cash rate twice last year, a move that many CFOs viewed as not enough to offset the cost of new credits.