Survey of 665 executives reveals how AI, multigenerational workforces and communication challenges are impacting labor relations strategies
U.S. employers are navigating a range of thorny issues that impact their labor relations strategies, from the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and multigenerational workforces to increasingly aggressive collective bargaining tactics and work stoppages. Yet regulatory whiplash and short-term cost pressures can make it difficult for employers to act on employee relations and engagement initiatives that can effectively mitigate risk.
Littler’s 2026 Labor Survey Report explores how in-house lawyers, human resources (HR) professionals and business leaders are evolving labor relations approaches and adapting employee engagement initiatives in the current landscape. The report’s second edition draws on responses from 665 executives at organizations that span a range of sizes and industry types and represent both unionized and nonunionized workplaces.
Key Findings
- Nine percent of employers feel “very prepared” for AI’s impact on labor relations. This comes as most respondents (87%) expect unions to use employee fears about AI displacing or changing jobs to fuel organizing interest over the next 12 months.
- Only 29% of employers have updated their labor relations strategies since the start of 2025. Over that same period, 30% of employers saw employees become more vocal or disruptive on social media and 24% saw the same in public forums. Additionally, fewer than half of employers’ labor relations plans address business and operational changes that carry workforce impacts (47%), communications and media strategy (42%) and AI strategy (32%).
- Employers are investing in employee engagement strategies and are attuned to the challenges of managing a multigenerational workforce. The vast majority of respondents (96%) say their organizations have focused on improving engagement with employees over the past year and 87% are tailoring their communication and engagement approaches to the preferences and styles of a multigenerational workforce.
The full survey report examines these and other findings in detail, including sector-specific findings in healthcare, retail/hospitality and manufacturing, and differences among large organizations and those with and without unionized employees.
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