“There is a lot of uncertainty, and everyone is watching closely to see how businesses will be affected by policy changes,” Jung says. The construction management-for-fee firm is ranked No. 77.

Jung adds that periods of uncertainty can also be an opportunity for professional services firms to streamline operations and integrate technology—with Top 100 firms overwhelmingly listing artificial intelligence as the technology having the greatest impact on their business in comments to ENR.

“Our industry is undergoing a transformational period,” Jung says. “Although the short-term future remains uncertain, our long-term outlook remains optimistic. We [are] staying adaptable and investing in innovation.”

Behind the Numbers

Overall, revenue for ENR’s Top 100 CM/PM-for-fee firms rose slightly last from 2023 and 2024, up 1.5% to $28.1 billion. All of that growth is attributed to the domestic market, with Top 100 revenue rising 3.6% between this year and last while international revenue fell 3.5%.

Separately, construction management-for-fee and program management Top 50 lists saw opposing trends. After growing more than 20% each of the previous two survey cycles, revenue for the Top 50 CM-for-fee firms fell 1.3% between 2023 and 2024. Revenue for the Top 50 PM-for-fee firms rose 2.9%, to $15.7 billion in this year’s survey from $15.3 billion in last year’s.

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Median revenue on the Top 100 list rose 10.3%, from $64.9 million in 2023 to $71.6 million in 2024. Of the 93 firms who filed both this year and last, 74.2% reported an increase in revenue this year.

Beyond revenue, Top 100 firms say federal spending cuts and the broader economic impacts of tariffs are compounding longtime industry challenges such as labor availability, raising concerns about labor pipeline stability, especially for firms that serve public-sector clients.

“Now that the first quarter is behind us, we continue to see some of the risks and challenges we saw in 2024 trickle into 2025,” says Riad Habib, senior vice president of buildings and infrastructure at Bureau Veritas. The firm is ranked No. 19.

As much as there is new talent flowing into the AEC industry, Top 100 firms say an imbalance between labor supply and demand, coupled with restrictive qualification requirements for serving on projects, has slowed filling available jobs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an average of 382,000 job openings each month between August 2023 and July 2024, the third straight year of an increased average close to 400,000.

“We expect to see this gap continue to hover at these levels as the industry demands more skilled labor to capitalize on the growth anticipated in the manufacturing and data center markets,” says Habib. “This demand won’t make hiring any easier.”

Understanding ‘America First’

The Trump administration has posited “America First” as a directive to take “bold action to secure our border and protect American communities” using tariffs as a bargaining tool. Put into practice over the last few months, the agenda’s short-term impact on the AEC industry has been volatile supply chain costs, a crackdown against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs for federal contractors and restrictive policy changes to the federal H-1B visa program, a major source of student talent for many firms.

On one hand, some Top 100 firms say owners are shelving projects in a bid to reap the long-term promised benefits of “America First” policies and wait for interest rates to lower.

For now, however, Bureau Veritas’ Habib says the firm is seeing a tolerance for higher costs, “but we continue to evaluate the impact of the tariffs on the construction industry,” he adds. “The market will eventually adapt once it has a clearer understanding of [where the trends lines will settle]. We will be watching to see if the implementation of the tariffs will yield an increase of 20 basis points to 50 basis points.”

On the other hand, some Top 100 firms say they are seeing tariffs immediately impact their prices and labor pipeline.

“The new administration’s labor and immigration policies will significantly affect our firm because it curtails our effort to bring engineering talent to our firm from sources beyond the domestic supply of engineering students,” says CES Consulting LLC’s Principal and Executive Vice President Chowdhary Gondy. The firm is ranked No. 53.

Gondy calls for the AEC industry to increase its flexibility to tap into qualified resources from foreign students and immigrants with the right skills to serve project staffing needs. He adds, “In order to mitigate workforce challenges, we have employed a multi-pronged approach which includes bringing in college graduate students as interns prior to their graduation to get a feel of the industry.”

Hill International CEO Raouf Ghali says the firm has also undertaken more “long-term strategies” to support the AEC industry’s labor pipeline by supporting education at the university level to “prepare the next wave of project and construction managers.”

In a comment, McDonough Bolyard Peck Inc. adds, “Despite budget and personnel cuts, many of the program needs are not going away, presenting potential future opportunities. Our backlog remains strong, but it’s hard to ignore increasing recessionary signals.” The firm is ranked No. 50.

Shifting Owners’ Needs

With shifting market challenges, owners’ needs are also changing, Top 100 firms say. Depending on the sector, determining how best to keep projects on track can be a moving target.

At Accenture, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Lead Adam Shaw says funding sources on longer term projects become a concern for owners.

“The stability of funding sources is now a material concern for projects with long gestation periods,” Shaw says. “This level of uncertainty is manifesting in more complex decision-making, which is generally slowing procurement and preconstruction cycles.”

Ghali adds that the firm is seeing a changing perception of the construction life cycle in general, “where projects return on investment calculus now includes stakeholder satisfaction, sustainability and resilience in addition to functionality, cost and schedule drivers.”

Adding to funding uncertainty, owners are also facing workforce limitations and understanding those external pressures can better align professional services with their needs, says McDonough Bolyard Peck Inc.

The firm adds, “Whether that’s helping assess program readiness, identifying project risks earlier or ensuring O&M teams are set up for long-term facility performance, it’s less about ‘What do you need built?’ and more about ‘How do we help you deliver better value?’”

Industrial Project Innovation LLC is exploring the integration of generative artificial intelligence tools on its projects, says Shane Hanson, vice president of project success at the firm, ranked No. 55.

“Clients are generally receptive to using generative AI tools, provided their data remains secure. However, concerns arise when it comes to recording and analyzing meetings or uploading sensitive information to open-source AI platforms,” Hanson says.

Hanson adds that Industrial Project Innovation is addressing these concerns by proactively pursuing secure AI solutions.

He adds, “By leveraging large language models hosted on our private servers, we ensure clients can benefit from efficiencies of AI without compromising the confidentiality of their project data.”

Improving Project Outcomes

Procon Consulting Director of Technology Stephen DeVito says artificial intelligence combined with reality capture is transforming how the firm delivers and manages projects.

DeVito says tools such as 360° cameras, drones and Lidar create a dynamic “reality layer” that updates depictions of the built environment in real time. It gives project teams a “reliable, up-to-date view of what’s actually happening on site,” he explains.

Mace Group CEO Jason Millett says the firm is using digital modeling in real time to integrate data and control systems for more efficient project management. The firm is ranked No. 34.

“Our kit-of-parts approach allows us to reduce thousands of construction components down to a kit of precisely defined sections prefabricated offsite,” says Millett. “By shifting 80% of the work to an offsite production facility, construction can be done in half the time at substantially reduced costs, more safely and sustainably.”

As the barriers to entry lower for technology use, Top 100 firms predict project outcomes will improve, enabling services firms to catch and address risks early.

DeVito adds, “Capturing a comprehensive visual record of a site no longer requires specialized expertise or expensive equipment. This simplicity lowers the barrier to adoption and makes it possible to document and understand jobsite conditions in near real time, across every phase of the project.”

When projects are well executed, they generally “outperform the market norm of over-budget and late projects,” Shaw says. “Those that achieve superior performance also do a better job of attracting, engaging and retaining the best talent through the project life cycle.”

McKissack & McKissack President Carmelo Torrisi says demand for more reliable and efficient energy sources will grow as the use of artificial intelligence expands, “highlighting the urgent need” to upgrade and expand aging utility systems.

He adds, “This modernization is essential not only for supporting current technological demands but also for future advancements, ensuring our utility infrastructure can sustain tech-driven growth.”

The more the industry embraces technology, the smoother the knowledge transfer between generations, Torrisi adds, “These strategies are vital for sustaining growth and innovation in the AEC industry amidst these challenging times.”