Over the past several years, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have been all the rave in corporate America. Following the death of George Floyd in 2020, corporations vowed to invest significantly in DEI-based initiatives, such as increasing the number of diverse employees they hire.
For example, in 2020, Google CEO Sundar Pichai vowed “to build sustainable equity for Google’s Black+ community, and externally, to make our products and programs helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users.” Google also illustrated a forward-looking plan to prioritize “representation from underrepresented groups” in its ranks.
However, tech giants, such as Meta and Google, have enacted significant cuts to their DEI programs amid a challenging economic environment. According to reports, jobs in the tech industry relating to DEI have declined 44 percent compared to last year. In contrast, between 2020 and 2021, demand for DEI positions exploded when job postings rose by nearly 30 percent.
Melinda Briana Epler, founder of Empovia, which consults with companies on their culture, noted that corporations will often put DEI budgets first on the chopping block in adverse economic scenarios. “Whenever there is an economic downturn in tech, some of the first budgets that are cut are in DEI, but I don’t think we’ve seen such stark contrast as this year,” said Epler.
According to Devika Brij, CEO of Brij the Gap Consulting, which also partners with tech companies on DEI initiatives, client have drastically downsized their budgets for the year. Brij stated that some of her clients had slashed their DEI budgets by as much as 90%.
“When George Floyd began to become the topic of conversations, companies and executives doubled down on their commitments and here we are only a couple years later, and folks are looking for opportunities to cut those teams,” said Brij.
Despite the pullback in the DEI space, Google and Meta have both continued to signal their interest in continuing these strides in their corporate culture. “Our commitment to DEI remains at the center of who we are as a company,” according to a Meta spokesperson. “We continue to intentionally design equitable and fair practices to drive progress across our people, product, policy and partnerships pillars.”
″Our workforce reductions and company-wide efforts to sharpen our focus span the breadth of our business,” a Google spokesperson stated, maintaining that the company remains committed to DEI causes. “To be absolutely clear, our commitment to that work has not changed and we invested in many new programs and partnerships this year.”
The cuts to DEI budgets have also impacted external organizations, such as Brij’s firm, which is experiencing a decline in business. “Right now with these budgets being entirely limited or cut, we’re just really backpedaling on so much of the work that we’ve done,” she said. “A lot of companies we worked with started to make progress before the cuts,” Epler said. “Now, it’s like some of them are essentially wiping away that work.” According to Brij, some companies have even requested that her company provide her consulting services for free amid the DEI cuts.
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