The story so far:
When U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, million-dollar donations poured in from Big Tech companies and their CEOs. During Mr. Trump’s inauguration, some prominent figures included his unelected adviser and major donor Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. As Trump settled into his role for the second time, notable U.S. companies including Google, Meta, and Amazon announced (or quietly made) changes to their existing DEI initiatives. They either rolled back ongoing programmes and goals, or decided to stop pursuing new DEI plans.
What is DEI?
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) refers to a wide range of principles and practices aimed at enriching a space by making sure all groups of people are represented (diversity), provided with measures to ensure equality by repairing past harms (equity), and given the support they need to thrive alongside their peers (inclusion). DEI reminds employers and employees alike that workplaces of the past often lacked equal rights for all or excluded talented individuals due to factors such as sexism, racism, religious hate, casteism, ableism (discrimination against people with disabilities), queerphobia, or other forms of bigotry.
In the U.S., the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a white police officer triggered nationwide outrage and a need to reflect on the inequality affecting Black people across all levels of society. However, some tech companies championed global diversity efforts long before 2020.
DEI schemes such as hiring diverse individuals, funding their training, or reserving specific opportunities for them are meant to improve the representation of different communities in the workplace, so that a company’s products and services can better reflect their general buyers or users.
Why do people oppose DEI?
Critics of DEI initiatives come from a range of political backgrounds. While some believe that corporate DEI measures are band-aids on a bullet wound that fail to address systemic injustice, others are convinced that DEI hiring processes unfairly reject talented individuals from majority groups.
Mr. Musk, for example, is a vocal critic of DEI. He has frequently used the phrase as a slur as he claims that DEI kills art, promotes racism across industries, and even puts unqualified people in critical/life-saving positions. “DEI means people DIE,” he has posted on X in January, despite recently expressing his strong support for the H1B visa category.
Which tech companies are getting rid of DEI measures?
Support for DEI initiatives is frequently perceived as a left-wing or even communist stance, which has alienated many leaders or institutions trying to closely align themselves with U.S. President Donald Trump’s right-wing government. Mr. Trump in fact issued an executive order titled, ‘Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,’ where DEI initiatives were referred to as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”
In the tech sector, Amazon is stopping diversity and inclusion programmes, while a senior executive said that the company still wanted to “foster a more truly inclusive culture,” reported Bloomberg. However, the e-commerce giant noted on its website that it was still supporting its employee-led groups, such as ‘Amazon People with Disabilities,’ ‘Black Employee Network,’, and ‘Glamazon’ for all those interested in LGBT+ issues.
Meanwhile, Meta scrapped its fact-checking programme, and loosened limits around sensitive topics such as gender/immigration as Mr. Zuckerberg publicly complained about a lack of ‘masculine energy’ in the workplace. Meta is also getting rid of DEI programmes for employees and diversity efforts for suppliers, apart from ending representation goals for women and ethnic minorities, reported Axios, citing an internal memo. “Instead of equity and inclusion training programs, we will build programs that focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background,” said Meta’s memo, per Axios.
For its part, Google is no longer working to meet its diversity hiring goals, even though Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai previously committed to hiring more leaders from underrepresented communities, reported WSJ. The news outlet also noted that Alphabet’s annual report left out a line about its DEI commitments. Furthermore, Google’s Calendar removed references to Pride Month and Black History Month from last year, noting that users could add these in if they specifically wanted to.
Other tech companies that have edited their DEI policies, or their wording, include Disney, Comcast, GE, Intel, PayPal, and Regeneron, according to NPR. Meanwhile, NASA is also taking down DEI-related terms from its website, per the tech outlet 404 Media.
Which companies still support DEI?
Despite Apple CEO Tim Cook’s attendance at Mr. Trump’s inauguration, Apple in its 2025 annual meeting notice strongly criticised a think tank’s potential proposal to “consider abolishing its Inclusion & Diversity program, policies, department and goals.” Apple called the proposal unnecessary and said it was an equal opportunity employer. “The proposal also inappropriately attempts to restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own ordinary business operations, people and teams, and business strategies,” said the iPhone-maker.
Meanwhile, McKinsey’s Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels stated in an employee memo in February that the consulting firm would continue to pursue diversity as well as a system that rewards merit. “The answer is yes. We will continue to boldly pursue both, because these two things together — our diverse meritocracy — is what makes us distinctive and has defined who we are over our nearly 100 years,” he was quoted as writing, per Bloomberg.
Other companies that have committed to DEI, in spite of popular pressure against it, include Costco, Microsoft, and Pinterest.
“We continue to believe it’s the business of Microsoft to be diverse and inclusive so we can build products, services, and a workforce that empowers the world. The business case for D&I is not only constant but stronger than ever,” wrote Microsoft’s Chief Diversity Officer and Corporate Vice President of Talent and Learning, Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, on December 20, 2024, in a LinkedIn post.
What does DEI in tech look like?
Countless tech workers — and their families, by extension — receive numerous benefits from DEI measures already in place at their work. These benefits include visa sponsorship for foreign job applicants (which Mr. Musk himself supports), company cafeteria menus that cater to a range of diet restrictions, wheelchair-friendly elevators and toilets, hybrid work mode for caretakers/parents, remote work options for people with disabilities or medical conditions, and even corporate protection from inappropriate questions about one’s body, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital status.
DEI measures are meant to protect Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai from racism, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from antisemitism, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman from queerphobia and antisemitism, not to mention their employees.
On the flip side, DEI does not guarantee a workplace where everyone feels equally respected or protected. For example, many companies that commit to DEI hiring principles on paper may automatically turn down immigrants or refugees who need visas.
Furthermore, sweeping DEI measures in one location may fail to take into consideration lesser-known forms of discrimination present in other cultures, such as colourism or casteism. The presence of DEI programmes can also lead to meritorious women, ethnic minority workers, or LGBTQIA+ employees facing more discrimination as others assume they were hired due to their identities, rather than their skills.
While numerous debates rage around DEI in the U.S., what is certain is that a tenuous tech market is set to become even more unstable in the future for those who do not fall neatly into the majority.
Published – February 17, 2025 08:30 am IST
