Trump Ravaged DEI: What's Next?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are under attack. Many companies are eliminating their efforts to level the playing field and ensure a diverse and inclusive workforce. Some are concerned that any effort to increase diversity may be seen as discriminatory and therefore illegal. On the other hand, others worry that underrepresented groups will lose any of the gains they have made in recent years and that the business, not to mention the workforce, will suffer for it. In the meantime, Human Resources professionals are scrambling to determine the best path forward. 

Upon Donald J. Trump's inauguration as president of the United States, he signed an executive order to remove DEI programs and even relevant language on federal government websites. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is run by Elon Musk, is digging deeper into DEI efforts. The Washington Post reports that the federal government now "aims to target staffers who are not in DEI roles and employees who work in offices established by law to ensure equal rights, internal DOGE documents show." 

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End of Affirmative Action Means End of DEI

The DEI backlash is not new. After the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, many companies in the private sector reconsidered their DEI goals and initiatives. At the time, HR Exchange Network contributors Cornelia Gamlem and Barbara Mitchell provided a detailed explanation of the case that led to the demise of affirmative action:

"The case focused on college admissions programs and solely race. Workplace practices differ from college admissions. Race is merely one dimension of diversity. Yet, almost immediately, there was a flurry of articles questioning and debating the impact this decision would have on organizations’ diversity, equity, and inclusion practices (“a chilling effect”) and affirmative action issues.

Then, political pundits and the politicians themselves began grandstanding. 'The campaign against affirmative action shifts to corporate America' read a Washington Post headline. The article cites a letter written by 13 Republican state attorneys general who accuse large companies of setting 'racially discriminatory quotas and preferences.'  Democratic attorneys general countered in their own letter, and rightfully so, that the corporate diversity efforts cited by Republicans set recruiting goals—permissible under current law—rather than quotas.'"

Quickly after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, many conservative groups flooded courts with lawsuits aimed at dismantling DEI policies in the American workplace. Within a year, 68 lawsuits that targeted DEI had been filed, according to the Guardian. 

More recently, the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) began recommending that businesses take stock of their practices for practical reasons - to avoid lawsuits. 

"SHRM recommends that "all private companies evaluate their inclusion and diversity initiatives to ensure they provide equal access to opportunities, skills development, and do not give special advantages to one person or group over another, avoiding any perception of identity-based favoritism," said Anuradha Hebbar, president of CEO Action for Inclusion & Diversity at SHRM. “They should also review their initiatives to determine whether they foster inclusivity or inclusive workplace cultures.” 

Watch this HR Exchange Network webinar about how to measure ROI of DEI. 

The Cracks in DEI Practices

Still, the Supreme Court ruling was not the only factor in DEI's demise. Many also failed to see the financial return on investment and felt emboldened to begin reducing or eliminating programs when criticism from Trump's Republican party started to get louder. 

"DEI initiatives, just to be clear, were under attack prior to the executive orders," said Michael Thomas, co-leader of the Corporate Diversity Counseling Group and principal in Jackson Lewis' Orange County office, in a podcast. "So, what the executive orders have done is really increase scrutiny at a very rapid pace that's seemingly changing almost daily. Despite this unprecedented scrutiny, DEI practices that are consistent with nondiscrimination laws are not only permitted, but they're actually critical to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees that are mandated by law." 

DEI has existed for many years, ironically, because companies did not want to put themselves at risk of discrimination lawsuits. However, DEI became paramount in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police. Many companies began additional programs or targeted messaging to show their support of the Black Lives Matter campaign. 

What Companies Axed DEI?

These are a few of the companies eliminating or significantly reducing DEI initiatives, goals, and programs: 

Walmart stopped using DEI language in communications and ended funding for the Center for Racial Equality. 

Target has ended its goals to increase Black representation and advancement among employees, improve the shopping experience for Black consumers, and support Black-owned businesses. 

Harley-Davidson pulled out of the Human Rights Camapaign (HRC) and announced the end of its socially motivated employee training and pursuit of diversity-based spending goals with suppliers. 

Meta announced the retreat of its DEI initiatives because the "legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing," according to a message from Janelle Gale, Meta's Vice President of Human Resources.  

Disney removed the diversity and inclusion metric when determining executive pay, and replaced it with a talent strategy metric. 

McDonald's announced at the start of 2025 that it was "retiring Supply Chain’s Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge in favor of a more integrated discussion with suppliers about inclusion as it relates to business performance."

The list goes on and includes Pepsi, Amazon, Lowe's and many more. The conversation for many of these organizations is more nuanced than has been reported. For instance, McDonald's simply renamed its DEI team to the Global Inclusion Team, according to its memo, which is titled, "Our Commitment to Inclusion." Some of these efforts will continue under different labels or more quietly than had been previously happening. 

In fact, some supporters of DEI see this as an opportunity to patch up cracks in the previous system and better manage expectations of leadership. Sekou Bermiss, who has contributed to HR Exchange Network and is an associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, has studied DEI at work and told NPR that he felt people misunderstood the benefits. 

"Indeed, although some analysts have made the business case for diversity, Bermiss' research has found that when companies increase the diversity of their executive teams, they generally don't see a financial impact — good or bad," according to the article. 

However, Bermiss said that DEI is a long game, according to NPR. By having a DEI strategy, companies demonstrate their values and can attain positive business outcomes, such as creating products that are appealing to a more diverse group of customers and a more engaged group of employees. 

Alternatives to DEI

Indeed, removing all DEI efforts could mean ignoring inclusion, which can erode culture and make people feel even more marginalized. More than 90% of workers have experienced discrimination for race, gender, disability, age, or body size, and 94% of workers care about feeling a sense of belonging at work. Yet, amid this backlash, only 52% of workers supported DEI, according to Harvard Business Review.

LaKisha Brooks, HR Exchange Network contributor and talent management leader and managing partner at Brooks Consultants, recently shared her thoughts on LinkedIn. 

"Too often, DEI is framed as a people-focused initiative—recruitment, retention, and belonging," Brooks wrote. "But the reality is, DEI is just as much an operational strategy as it is a financial one. When embedded into supply chain, finance, IT, logistics, and compliance, DEI enhances efficiency, mitigates risk, drives innovation, and boosts profitability."

Brooks suggests tracking financial impacts of DEI efforts, using operational data to assess efficiency, cost savings, and growth, and paying attention to whether external pressure played a role in pushing for performative acts. 

In a post on LinkedIn, Ellen Taafe, a professor at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, award-winning author of The Mirrored Door, and previous contributor to HR Exchange Network, suggested businesses should "rethink how we do this work." Her recommendation was to turn to Lily Zheng, a strategist, consultant, and author, who recently shared a new framework built around fairness, access, inclusion, and representation (FAIR) in HBR: 

"Instead of the performative, individual-centered, isolated, and zero-sum methods of the current mainstream approach, DEI work must evolve to become outcomes-based, systems-focused, coalition-driven, and win-win. And by emphasizing fairness in policies, broad accessibility, inclusive cultures, and trust-based representation, organizations can better address the needs of all employees and create meaningful, lasting change."

FAIR is planned based on data, and it applies change management ideology to creating a culture that better engages employees. Supporters of FAIR would focus on measurable pursuits like equity in pay, for example. Collaborators would create better systems for the workplace, including processes, procedures, and policies, wrote Zheng.  

Watch Mary Wilson, VP Organizational Enablement, Finance at Warner Music Group, as she breaks down change management at PEX Network's All Access: OPEX 2024.

Gen Z Wants DEI

No one knows for sure if FAIR will be the replacement for DEI. However, Corey Seemiller, who is the co-author of Generations in the World of Work and an award-winning professor in the Department of Leadership Studies in Education and Organizations at Wright State University, is convinced that younger employees will demand a replacement. 

"This is going to be short lived because young people aren't going to put up with it at all," Seemiller says to HR Exchange Network. "Absolutely, DEI is one of the most important things for them, not just having DEI trainings in their organizations because they believe that they should attend them, but because it's a signal from the organization that they care about inclusion. And so they're not going to want to work for these places [that don't have it]."

In Generations in the World of Work (Routledge, 2025), Seemiller and co-author Meghan Grace write the following based on their research: 

"Together, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are critical in creating workplaces that foster a sense of welcoming and belonging. And a whopping 81% of workers would seriously consider quitting their jobs if the company failed to demonstrate a true commitment to DEI. Many companies have realized that DEI is not just good for people; it's good for business. Happily retained employees cost companies less in hiring and training costs, and turnover increases brain drain, where excellent ideas and organizational wisdom leave with those employees who resign." 

Watch Aashna Sinha, chief people officer at Betches Media, talk about Gen Z's expectations at the PEX Network's All Access: Digital Transformation in HR webinar series.

For the time being, however, DEI is disappearing. For example, the Wall Street Journal reports that JPMorgan Chase shared little about its DEI efforts in the bank's annual report. In addition, the HSBC DEI website page went from 1,000 words to 100 words. It no longer includes diversity-data disclosures, information about employee resource groups, and the company’s description of its strategy to advance inclusion. Clearly, the federal government's actions and the backlash evident on social media is having a chilling effect. 

A few companies are modifying their DEI programs and some are sticking with DEI, including Delta Air Lines, Costco, Apple, Procter & Gamble, and Sephora, according to Newsweek. 

Costco recently received an investor proposal from a conservative think tank to consider the risks of its diversity program. The investor said DEI is "illegal, immoral and detrimental to shareholder value." More than 98% of shareholders voted against it, according to preliminary results announced by Costco chairman Hamilton “Tony” James and reported in USA Today. 

"We owe our success to the more than 300,000 employees who serve our members every day," James told USA Today. "It is important that they all feel included and appreciated and that they transmit these values to our customers." 

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