The impact of Trump’s policies on professional services—deglobalisation, decarbonisation, demographics, and digitalisation

Michael McMahon, Professor of Economics at University of Oxford, and Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our The Future of the Firm podcast to debate the potential impact of President Trump’s policies on professional services via the four global megatrends of deglobalisation, decarbonisation, demographics, and digitalisation.  

  

Michael and Fiona shared their insights on the following matters and more:   

  

• The new US government’s protectionist policies are the latest iteration of a global move towards deglobalisation. While clients may turn to consultants to help navigate these changes, the inflationary impact (of tariffs, etc.) may lead to tighter purse strings and decreased consulting demand long term.  

• Trump has made his stance on climate change and decarbonisation very clear. But firms should not be packing away their ESG services—the world could look very different at the end of Trump’s presidency.  

• The new US government’s plans to restrict immigration, paired with other demographic changes, will lead to skills shortages in the labour market. This may affect the services clients are looking for—for instance, there may be an opportunity for firms to offer more staff augmentation services to fill this gap. 

• While the EU is bringing in regulations to encourage ethical AI use, the US wants to keep restrictions to a minimum. The region is therefore likely to see a further boom in digitalisation and tech growth, and firms can expect a boost in tech consulting work as a result.  

• Consulting leaders should be looking to the capital markets to assess the impacts of Trump’s policies—this is how he will be measuring success. Firms should also keep an eye on client confidence levels and consumer behaviour patterns to respond to any early trends. 

  

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Benjamin Samuels, Former Chief Revenue Officer at WeWork about navigating growth and change.