By Bill Current, Founder of the Current Consulting Group
Current Consulting Group’s 9th Annual Employer Drug Testing Survey offers a clear vision of the future of drug testing, answering critical questions, such as:
- Will employers still continue to conduct drug testing in the future?
- Will changing regulations and state laws affect 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?
- What innovations will they demand from providers?
This year’s Employer Drug Testing Survey was made possible by the generous support of several leading drug testing providers, including in alphabetical order:
- Abbott
- ClearStar
- DrugPak
- First Advantage
- Premier Biotech
- Quest Diagnostics
- Wondfo USA
The good news from the 2025 survey is that the majority of employers plan to continue conducting drug tests, but they are interested in alternatives to traditional testing methods. Economic pressures affecting company budgets, tight labor markets, and the ongoing legalization of marijuana will combine to push employers toward emerging technologies and innovative ways to streamline the testing process, improve the donor experience, and improve their return on investment from drug testing.
Who influences employers’ decisions?
Who has the most influence on employers as they make important decisions about the future of their employee screening programs? When asked that question, 25% of employers said their internal human resources department, and 11% said their internal legal department – the top two responses. This is somewhat of a shift from previous years’ surveys placing Third-Party Administrators closer to the top of the responses.
Other top influencers mentioned included the safety department, a Designated Employer Representative (DER), or other “internal influencers,” perhaps like the company owner or CEO.
For external sources, who are often the people informing and influencing internal sources, the top responses were Third-Party Administrators (10%), trade associations like “NDASA, SAPAA, PBSA, SHRM, etc.” (8%), outside legal counsel (6%), Medical Review Officers (5%), and laboratories (1%).
Will drug testing increase in the future?
Employers are divided on how the impact of the ever-changing legal landscape of drug testing will affect their policy decisions. For instance, when asked: “How do you anticipate changing regulations (state laws, federal mandates, marijuana legalization, etc.) impacting drug testing policies over the next 1-3 years?” 29% of respondents reported that drug testing volumes will increase, whereas 32% reported that 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?” the vast majority of employers (94%) 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, 27% of respondents whose company decided to drop marijuana from its drug-test panel said it is because it makes it more difficult to find new people to hire. This response suggests that hiring challenges may be affecting decisions about testing job candidates.
Perception of effectiveness
Perhaps the number one reason 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 primary motivation to conduct drug testing, according to 78% of respondents, is “to promote a safe workplace.” When asked, “What benefits does your company realize from drug testing?” The number one response (84%) 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 already is 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 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 employer testing will continue to evolve
So, if drug testing will continue and possibly even increase, 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.” This represents a combined total of 23%, similar to the previous year’s 21%, indicating a trend worth monitoring.
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 among employers to consider something most drug-testing providers would not have predicted 10 years ago: conducting their own on-site 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 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.” These are two issues rapid-result testing directly addresses.
At the same time, 34% of respondents 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 use, 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 more than 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, enables 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.
Looking Ahead
Drug testing as an industry historically tends to be cautious about applying new technologies commonly used in other industries or walks of life. Nowadays, it’s possible to make a purchase online using a credit card already on file with the vendor and have the product delivered the same day. How many drug testing providers can do something similar? In the future, it will become imperative.
When asked, “Looking ahead, which of the following innovations would you be most interested in exploring for your drug testing program?” the responses were as follows:
- New drug panels for emerging substances
- 39% digital chain-of-custody solutions
- 35% mobile app for scheduling and results
- 23% integrated health and drug testing reporting dashboards
- 18% AI-driven reporting or analytics
- 16% expanded remote/telehealth collections
- 16% occupational-type testing (flu vaccinations, TB Testing, MMR, lead, etc.)
- 9% blockchain for secure drug test records 6%
Only 26% of employers responded they were not looking for innovations at this time. This means, of course, that three-quarters of employers are open to innovation – if not eager to consider alternative processes and testing methods. Who should take note of these results? Drug testing providers.
Conclusion
From Current Consulting Group’s 2025 Employer Drug Testing Survey, we know that drug testing is safe and likely will continue to grow in the future. We also know how employers conduct drug testing will continue to evolve – and that alternative testing methods, such as oral fluid testing, rapid-result testing, and on-site collections/tests, will become more common. Finally, we also learn that employers are open-minded and willing to explore how advanced technologies can help them not only continue to conduct drug tests but also get the most out of their drug-testing programs.
Buckle up. It looks like the future of drug testing is going to be an exciting ride.
For more information about the Current Consulting Group survey, email us at info@currentconsultinggroup.com.