U.S. Employers Mull Changes in Business Landscape Under Trump Administration
U.S. President Donald Trump took office nearly four months ago, signing a flurry of executive orders, slashing some government services and offices, and signaling an about-face on policies that affect private organizations.
For its annual Employer Survey Report, law firm Littler asked in-house lawyers, business executives, and HR professionals how their organizations are adapting to new conditions.
Top concerns include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI—called IE&D in the report to avoid derogatory connotations of the DEI acronym) and immigration, with 84 and 75 percent of respondents expecting significant impacts in those areas respectively. But artificial intelligence (AI) and local regulations are high on executives’ minds as well. Here’s the rundown.
Diversity and Inclusion
Dismantling DEI initiatives has been a theme throughout the first few months of the Trump administration. Trump’s executive orders ended DEI programs in the federal government, reversed affirmative action requirements for federal contractors, and instructed federal agencies to identify private-sector organizations for DEI-related investigations.
Despite the challenges, 45 percent of Littler survey respondents said they were staying the course and not considering new or further rollbacks of DEI programs in response to political changes.
LGBTQ+ protections. More than half (58 percent) of employers said they expect big impacts on LGBTQ+ protections in the workplace in the next year. In large organizations, those impacts are more widely expected, with 70 percent of respondents saying they expect policy changes to affect their workplaces.
Religion at work. Religious expression issues are a notable challenge for U.S. employers today. Roughly 35 percent of employers said they have recently experienced conflict between employees seeking religious accommodations at work and DEI-related initiatives, such as between LGBTQ+ employees and those with religious beliefs that do not recognize same-sex relationships. More workplace conflict may be on the horizon as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prioritizes claims affecting religious protections, including anti-Christian bias or anti-Semitism.
“Overall, while the volume of requests for religious accommodations appears to have stabilized since the end of most COVID-19 vaccine mandates—with just 4 percent of respondents reporting an increase— employers are likely to see other types of religious accommodation requests ramp up during the second Trump administration,” the report said.
Immigration
The Trump administration has focused heavily on illegal immigration enforcement, including an uptick in U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and activity. As a result of these policies, 58 percent of employers surveyed said they are at least slightly concerned about workforce staffing challenges.
Additionally, 70 percent said they expect enforcement actions from ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to have a significant or moderate impact on their workplaces in the next year. Retail and hospitality employers were most concerned, with 89 percent expecting significant or moderate impacts from ICE and DHS enforcement actions.
“With ICE in the spotlight, however, employers may be underestimating the impact of Trump 2.0 on legal immigration, which declined by about 40 percent during the president’s first term and could have costly consequences for employers that are unable to bring in the necessary talent,” the Littler report said. “The administration is already mulling new travel bans and limiting resources to U.S. consulates, while a recent executive order requires enhanced vetting of nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applicants—including those sponsored by employers—from certain countries.
“These actions will likely lead to visa processing delays, retention challenges and added costs for employers with foreign workers,” the report continued. “For example, should an employee travel abroad for work or personal reasons, it may take more time (and money) to secure a visa to travel back to the U.S.—if it is issued at all.”
Artificial Intelligence
AI use in the workplace is often a contentious topic, especially because the technology can be so broadly applied and so dramatically misused. This has caused employers to debate their stance on the issue. In Littler’s 2024 AI C-Suite Survey Report, 73 percent of executives were decreasing their organization’s AI usage in HR functions because of regulatory uncertainty.
But changes in today’s political environment—including rollbacks on AI safety testing rules and fewer expected regulatory hurdles around discrimination and bias in AI tools—has changed employers’ tune. In the 2025 survey, 31 percent of all employers said they are increasing or planning to increase their use of AI at work.
Local Legislation
“As President Trump’s executive orders impacting workplace policy spur legal challenges and federal legislative gridlock continues, states and localities will likely pick up the slack,” Littler explained. “More than eight in 10 respondents expect an increase in legislative activity and regulations impacting the workplace at the state and local levels over the next 12 months. Just 5 percent say it is likely such activity will decrease over the next year, and none say that is very likely. Among large organizations, 93 percent expect to be impacted by state and local legislative activity.”
Key areas to watch locally include minimum wage hikes, paid sick leave, and AI system usage. So far, 31 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have adopted resolutions or enacted legislation regarding AI.
For examples of how local legislators and regulators fill the gaps around workplace compliance, see the Security Management roundup on the patchwork of U.S. state laws on heat safety.
