Labor Department Social Media Campaign Depicts a White Male Workforce

A year ago, the Labor Department’s social media messaging focused heavily on portraying a diverse assortment of employees and laborers, both in gender and race.

But the agency has made a dramatic shift during the Trump administration, launching a social media campaign with illustrations that appear to be AI-generated and that almost exclusively feature White men — part of an effort to promote the hiring of American citizens over foreign workers.

Art experts and historians say the images mimic the styles of artist Norman Rockwell or historical government propaganda, including posters from New Deal-era America and fascist Europe. The campaign has drawn scrutiny, with critics saying it is not realistically portraying the diversity of the country’s workforce and is sending messages that feel exclusionary, given that White men make up a minority of the workforce.

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This isn’t a dog whistle. This is a loud trumpet blaring that White men who are supporting their wives and children are worthy of good jobs.

Judy Conti, director of government affairs at the National Employment Law Project, said she was shocked to see images that don’t reflect the identities of many American workers. White non-Hispanic men make up about one-third of the American workforce, and White non-Hispanic women are about one-quarter, according to federal labor data. About 20 percent of American workers are Hispanic or Latino, according to 2024 federal labor data, and about 13 percent are Black or African American. About 47 percent of workers are women. Conti noted that the ads also don’t reflect Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who is Latina.

“This isn’t a dog whistle,” Conti said. “This is a loud trumpet blaring that White men who are supporting their wives and children are worthy of good jobs.”

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