Is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion becoming passé? According to a new report, corporate America is quickly souring on DEI programs that just a few years ago were all the rage.
Axios notes that mentions of “DEI” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in quarterly earning calls dropped significantly from a peak in 2021.
Companies have backed away from DEI programs over the past two years in the wake of attacks from lawmakers, high-profile rich guys and conservative activists like former Trump aide Stephen Miller.
— Axios (@axios) April 2, 2024
Some are cutting back funding and reducing DEI staff. https://t.co/Zg5G4nxScQ pic.twitter.com/K4iAaxiUzJ
Business leaders are responding to lawsuits and attacks from conservative activists, lawmakers, and wealthy entrepreneurs like Elon Musk.
Between the lines: Some business leaders are increasingly reluctant to speak publicly about the subject, but behind the scenes they're fed up with DEI, Johnny Taylor, president of the Society for Human Resource Management said in a January interview with Axios.
"The backlash is real. And I mean, in ways that I've actually never seen it before," he says. "CEOs are literally putting the brakes on this DE&I work that was running strong" since George Floyd's murder in May 2020 pushed businesses into action.
Flashback: After George Floyd, the chief diversity officer role "was the hottest position in America," says Kevin Clayton, senior vice president, head of social impact and equity for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Companies were hiring for these positions "out of guilt," he says, noting that in 2020 he was pursued by more than a dozen employers.
But some CEOs are feeling like they didn't hire well for these roles, bringing on people with civil rights backgrounds instead of more corporate expertise, says Taylor, of SHRM.
State of play: Some businesses are cutting back funding, trimming DEI staff — and even considering pulling back on things like employee resource groups comprised of workers of various races, ethnicities or interests.
And some are changing programs designed to support women and people of color because of lawsuits — many have been filed over these programs, more than 20 by Miller's America First Legal. And other companies worry about litigation. [...]Goldman Sachs opened up its "Possibilities Summit" for Black college students to include white students; Bank of America broadened internal programs to "include everyone," as Bloomberg reported last month.
"The seemingly small changes — lawyerly tweaks, executives call them — are starting to add up to something big: the end of a watershed era for diversity in the U.S. workplace, and the start of a new, uncertain one," per Bloomberg. (Axios)
It's not just corporate America that's turning on DEI. Many GOP-led states, such as Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma, have banned DEI in public entities, such as colleges and universities and state agencies.
“Encouraging our workforce, economy, and education systems to flourish means shifting focus away from exclusivity and discrimination, and toward opportunity and merit," Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said last December when he signed an executive order protecting taxpayers from such programs. "We’re taking politics out of education and focusing on preparing students for the workforce.”
We’ll celebrate our diversity without the DEI bureaucracy.
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) December 13, 2023
My new executive order takes DEI politics out of higher ed and state agencies — because Oklahomans deserve a merit-based system that ensures equal opportunities for everyone.
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