By the Current Consulting Group
What Employers Are Saying About the Future of Drug Testing According to Current Consulting Group’s Annual Employer Survey
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Current Consulting Group’s 9th Annual Employer Drug Testing Survey offers a very clear vision of the future of drug testing, answering critical questions such as:
- Will employers continue to conduct drug testing in the future?
- Will changing regulations and state laws impact how much they drug test in the future?
- What will motivate employers to continue to rely on drug testing?
- What drug testing methods will they prefer in the future?
This year’s Employer Drug Testing Survey was made possible by the generous support of several leading drug testing providers, including in alphabetical order:
Will Drug Testing Increase in the Future?
Employers are divided on how the impact of the ever-changing legal landscape of drug testing will impact their policy decisions. For instance, when asked: “How do you anticipate changing regulations (state laws, federal mandates, marijuana legalization, etc.) will impact drug testing policies over the next 1-3 years?” 29% said drug testing volumes will increase while 32% said volumes will decrease.
Of course, pre-employment testing is a major driver for overall drug testing volume. When asked: “When does your company conduct drug testing?” 94%, the number one response, said pre-employment testing followed by reasonable suspicion (84%), post-accident (80%), and random (78%).
In a separate question, 25% of employers said pre-employment testing volumes were up in 2025 while 42% said they were the same. Another 9% predicted they will stop conducting pre-employment testing in the next three years. Why? In a related result from the survey, when a company decides to drop marijuana from its drug-test panel, 27% said it’s because it makes it more difficult to find new people to hire, which it would appear is affecting decisions about testing job candidates.
Perception of Effectiveness
Perhaps the number one reason why employers will choose to continue their drug testing program in the future is the perception of its effectiveness. When asked: “Do you consider drug testing effective?” 70% said “yes, very effective,” which was up from 66% the previous year. Only 3% said “no, it could be better.”
The number one motivation for conducting drug testing according to 78% of respondents is “to promote a safe workplace.” When asked: “What benefits does your company realize from drug testing?” 84%, the number one response, said drug testing “improved safety in the workplace.” In other words, safety is the motivation to test, and improved safety is the reason to continue testing.
Given the negative impact marijuana legalization is already having on post-accident positivity rates as seen in the results of Quest Diagnostics’ 2025 Drug Testing Index, and the fact that the ever-expanding availability of legal marijuana makes it more likely that some employees will be impaired on the job and pose a risk to overall workplace safety, many employers will choose to continue to conduct drug testing.
How Employers Test Will Continue to Evolve
So, if drug testing continues and possibly even increases, the question becomes how will employers conduct drug testing in the future? The survey results portend big changes in answer to this question.
Oral Fluid Testing—When asked: “Do you plan on adding testing methodologies to your program in the next 12 months?” a combined 31% said lab-based and/or rapid-result oral fluid testing, by far the top responses.
Rapid-Result Testing—When asked: “How likely would you be to move from lab-based drug testing to instant or rapid-result drug testing in the next 1-2 years?” 13% said “very likely” and 10% said “likely” for a combined total of 23%, similar to the previous year’s total of 21%, establishing this as a trend worth watching.
On-Site Rapid Testing/Collections—When asked: “How likely are you to move from clinic collect/rapid testing to direct on-site collect/rapid testing in the next 1-2 years?” 10% said “very likely” and 8% said “likely.” This result indicates a willingness on the part of employers to consider something that 10 years ago most drug testing providers would not have predicted, employers doing their own collections/tests on-site.
Overcoming the Challenges of Drug Testing
Why are employers looking toward oral fluid testing, rapid-result testing, and performing rapid-result tests on-site? Because traditional drug testing methods present certain challenges that these alternative testing methods solve. For instance, when asked: “What are the biggest challenges to performing drug tests?” 40% said “getting test results in a timely manner” and 36% said “arranging collections,” two issues rapid-result testing directly addresses.
Additionally, 34% said marijuana legalization is one of the biggest challenges to drug testing. Oral fluid testing with its shorter window of detection and ability to detect marijuana within minutes after usage makes it possible for employers to continue to test for cannabis while also complying with local laws and respecting the rights of lawful marijuana users.
Finally, just over 27% of employers cited the “cost of drug testing and budget concerns” as a major challenge to drug testing. Rapid-result testing, particularly with oral fluid, makes it possible for employers to perform tests on-site rather than at an off-site collection facility saving time and money. And because oral fluid samples are so much easier to collect compared to urine samples, supervisors and other workplace personnel can be trained to perform/observe the collection/test, potentially resulting in even more savings.
Conclusion
From Current Consulting Group’s 2025 Employer Drug Testing Survey we know that drug testing is safe and will likely continue to grow in the future.
We also know how employers conduct drug testing will continue to evolve and alternative testing methods such as oral fluid testing, rapid-result testing, and on-site collections/tests will become more commonly used.
Buckle up. It looks like the future of drug testing is going to be exciting ride.
For more information about Current Consulting Group’s survey email us at info@currentconsultinggroup.com.
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