FTC Launches Labor Markets Task Force: The More Things Change, the More Antitrust Enforcement Stays the Same

On February 26, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a new Labor Markets Task Force (Task Force) to combat deceptive, unfair, and anticompetitive labor market practices. Declaring that the Republican party is “the working person’s party,” FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson directed the FTC’s three Bureaus — the Bureau of Competition, the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and the Bureau of Economics — to work together to prioritize “rooting out and prosecuting unfair labor practices that harm American workers” (Directive).

The Directive underscores the FTC’s dual mandate of consumer protection and competition enforcement, asserting that the FTC is “uniquely well-suited” to address conduct harming workers. The Task Force launch comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division’s (DOJ) and the FTC’s joint Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers (Guidelines), which were announced in the final days of the Biden administration. Although Chair Ferguson dissented from the issuance of the Guidelines, he disagreed because of their timing rather than their substance. In fact, the Directive is in line with the Guidelines’ focus on labor market enforcement, and echoes Chair Ferguson’s stance that antitrust laws “protect employees from unlawful restraints of the labor markets.”

Notwithstanding the leadership change at the FTC, the Task Force announcement signals that antitrust enforcement in labor markets, which began in the Obama administration and continued through the first Trump and Biden administrations, will remain a priority for the new Trump administration.

Task Force Focus Areas. The Directive identifies five broad categories of potentially deceptive, unfair, or anticompetitive labor market practices that the Task Force will pursue:

1. No-poach (including non-solicitation or no-hire) and wage-fixing agreements. These types of agreements may be considered per se violations of the Sherman Act, and potentially result in criminal liability. Although the FTC may bring civil Sherman Act cases, the FTC does not have criminal antitrust enforcement authority, which is held exclusively by DOJ. Once Senate-confirmed leadership for DOJ is in place, there may be future developments regarding how the two agencies reconcile their approaches in this area.
2. Non-compete agreements and labor-contract termination penalties. According to the Directive, these types of obligations can restrict a worker’s ability to take on new employment in the same industry. Chair Ferguson had disagreed with the FTC’s rule prohibiting virtually all non-compete agreements, but now appears ready to pursue enforcement on a case-by-case basis.
3. Labor market monopsonies. The FTC will be on the lookout for anticompetitive methods used to create or maintain significant buyer power in labor markets, particularly in geographic areas with limited employment opportunities.
4. Unfair or deceptive business practices. These practices may include deceptive advertising for jobs and business opportunities, fraudulent job and task “scams,” misleading franchise offerings, and unnecessary occupational licensing requirements. The FTC’s protections will also cover “gig economy” workers, in another continuation of the Biden FTC’s priorities.
5. Collusion or unlawful coordination on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) metrics. In a departure from the Biden administration’s approach, the Directive also focuses on DEI efforts that “may have the effect of diminishing labor competition by excluding certain workers from markets, or students from professional-training schools, on the basis of race, sex, or sexual orientation.” This is consistent with the Trump administration’s broader attacks on DEI.

Takeaways. The FTC’s announcement of its new Task Force makes clear that antitrust enforcement in labor markets has bipartisan support and is here to stay. Moreover, the conduct under scrutiny has expanded beyond traditional enforcement areas, such as anticompetitive agreements among employers, to now include a variety of practices including DEI initiatives. Employers should take heed and review their antitrust compliance programs and HR practices to ensure that their policies and employee trainings stay current with the new administration’s enforcement priorities.

For questions about antitrust enforcement or compliance, contact the authors or any of their colleagues in Arnold & Porter’s Antitrust/Competition or White Collar Defense & Investigations practice groups.

© Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP 2025 All Rights Reserved. This Blog post is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.