• Trump’s victory could provide a much-needed boost to the consulting industry.
• Trump’s proposed tariffs, tax cuts and deregulation could boost demand for consulting services.

President Donald Trump’s election victory could be good news for the world. consulting sectorwhich has recently faced a decline in demand and hiring.

Trump campaigned on several proposed policies, including global tariffs on imported goods and radical tax cuts – it could impact American businesses and, therefore, the demand for consulting services.

Industry experts told Business Insider they expect The election of Trump increase the demand for consulting services, including strategy, management, reorganization and technical consulting services.

“I think Trump’s election is very good for the consulting industry,” Michael Mische, a management consultant, former partner at KPMG and professor at USC’s Marshall School, told BI.

Mische said the main factors that determine the board are generally macroeconomic health, government spending, CEO sentiment, free cash flow and customer needs. He said there had been a need from customers over the past two years, but some CEOs are hesitant to act due to a challenging macroeconomic environment, emphasizing that the sector is very vulnerable and elastic depending on what is happening in the world.

“Our entire consulting industry is based on the fact that it’s a discretionary item. It’s literally the CEO’s luxury item,” Mische said.

Unlike accounting or legal departments, consultants are not essential and they step in quickly when CEO confidence is low or the economic outlook is uncertain. But Mische said Trump’s election would likely boost CEO confidence, noting that the stock market reacted positively to Trump’s victory.

Trump’s proposal to cut the corporate tax rate could allow companies to spend more money on discretionary spending, such as on consultants. Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed unrealized capital gains tax is also unlikely to come to fruition now, which could further boost business sentiment.

Prices could also favor the consulting sector, as responding to it could require “a certain amount of brain power” and specialist skills for which companies could turn to consultants.

Two days after the election, Mische said he’s already seeing clients gearing up to seek out more consulting services.

Potentially a short-term bump

Tom Rodenhauser, managing partner at market research firm Kennedy Intelligence, acknowledges that the industry could see a surge in demand after Trump’s election, but he thinks it could be a “short-term bump.” term”.

Rodenhauser said Trump comes with uncertainty, along with his promises of tax cuts and deregulation – all of this, including unpredictability, can be beneficial for consultants.

“But the problem is you’re borrowing for the future. You kind of have a very short-term outlook,” he said.

For example, in recent years there has been a trend toward renewable energy as the energy of the future, but Trump’s focus on oil and gas could lead to increased focus and spending on these sectors, a move which Rodenhauser says may not be ideal in the long term. term.

He compared the situation to what happened during the pandemic: an outbreak request for consulting services led to over-hiring, which resulted in layoffs and delayed start dates at some large companies, including Deloitte, EYAnd PWC.

“I think the danger for the big consulting firms is that they don’t want to take an opportunity that will give them a short-term solution,” he said.

Doree Keating, public sector leader at Ernst & Young, has a more optimistic view of Trump’s impact. “We see tremendous opportunity for government to leverage cloud technology, responsible AI and data to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of all agencies. Ultimately, our goal will be to help modernize government operations to achieve better results for the American people. » she told BI by email.

“Business as usual”

Two consultants both told Business Insider via direct message on Reddit that their companies were preparing to “business as usual” for Trump’s second term. Both requested anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their careers, but their employment was confirmed by Business Insider.

A consultant who works at Deloitte said there would likely be a shift in work from the federal level to the state level. “Anticipating more state government contracts dovetails with some of the policy ideas we’ve heard from the Trump administration; if some federal social services change or end, states have a lot of work to do to be done to implement these changes, but also to remedy the situation that this creates for the respective citizens of the State”, they wrote.

They added that Deloitte management plans an increase in hiring next year to support personnel changes at agencies, new grants and the implementation of policy decisions made by Trump during his first year as president.

Deloitte did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

Three phases of preparation for Trump 2.0

Mische said he expects three phases in how consulting firms will respond to the new presidency. First, they will need more confidence about what they think will happen in 2025. Second, they will need to deal with the backlog of extended but deferred job offers to see who is still interested in working for the company . And once they have clarity on this, companies can start ramping up their recruiting efforts.

He expects strong demand in energy sectors, from fossil fuels to renewables, and an increased focus on more efficient public spending.

The federal government spends billions each year on consulting services, and he said there could be increased demand from agencies that Trump has suggested making major changes to, including the Department of Education, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defense.