Consulting firms in America have less optimism about the US economy, reflecting increasing caution and recessionary fears.
The latest 2025 Q4 Engineering Business Sentiment published by ACEC Research Institute highlights that the industry is continuing demonstrate resilience and optimism despite a shifting economic environment.
Current sentiment remains particularly strong, with firms reporting high confidence in both their financial position and the engineering and design services industry more broadly. This is driven in part by sustained demand in top-performing market sectors such as data centres and energy and utilities. Backlogs remain healthy for many firms, hiring needs persist across the sector and larger firms in particular express elevated confidence relative to their smaller counterparts. However, optimism regarding the US economy has softened significantly from the previous quarter, reflecting an increasing caution as leaders evaluate national developments.
Looking ahead, future sentiment is more tempered. While firms expect continued strength in their own financial outlook and gradual improvement in industry conditions, expectations for the US economy have dipped into negative territory. Unsurprisingly, political uncertainty and broader economic unpredictability dominate the concerns shaping this outlook, along with persistent worries about inflation, tariffs and the possibility of a recession. Around 77% of firms expressed concern about the economic situation and nearly 50% believe that a recession is on the way.
Despite this, firms project modest growth in backlogs and report strong hiring intentions for the coming year, particularly large firms and those located in the north east of America, suggesting that organisations remain prepared to invest in long-term capacity despite near-term volatility.
This quarter’s ‘hot topics’ provide important context for the workforce and technology environment shaping the sector’s trajectory. Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption remains early-stage across most firms, characterised largely by limited deployment or exploratory pilot projects rather than full-scale integration. 25% of firms have not implemented AI at all and most firms have either limited implementation (37%) or are experimenting with pilot projects (26%). Very few firms have widespread or fully integrated AI.
At the same time, leaders express strong support for expanding access to H-1B visas (non-immigrant work visa for foreign professionals in “specialty occupations”) to address ongoing talent shortages, with nearly half of firms already employing visa holders. Yet the near-unanimous negative reaction to a proposed $100,000 per-hire fee illustrates the tension between workforce needs and potential policy barriers that could restrict access to global engineering talent.
Overall, these findings portray an industry that remains confident in its operational strength and strategic direction while simultaneously expressing caution about national economic conditions. Firms appear prepared to navigate uncertainty – continuing to hire, exploring emerging technologies and sustaining strong sector level optimism – at the same time as they highlight structural challenges such as workforce shortages and the broader macroeconomic climate.
Groundwork for the ACEC Institute’s study was conducted between 28 October and 10 November 2025, during which time the US was experiencing a federal government shutdown.
Click here for access to the 2025 Q4 Engineering Business Sentiment.
