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Companies Continue Slashing Diversity Jobs Amid Corporate Layoffs

Companies Continue Slashing Diversity Jobs Amid Corporate Layoffs

“More than 300 DEI professionals departed companies in the last six months”

We have been following this development. It says a lot about the real value of diversity staffers.

Bloomberg Law reports:

Corporate Diversity Pledges Fizzle Amid Layoffs, GOP Backlash

Workplace diversity and inclusion efforts adopted in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and ensuing protests are fading as sweeping layoffs blunt companies’ bold commitments to boost underrepresented groups in their C-suites and ranks.

The global Black Lives Matter movement that followed Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody in 2020 prompted a hiring boom for diversity, equity, and inclusion professionals and pledges by major employers to address racial inequality in the workplace.

But many of those hired—largely people of color—to diversify the workplace have been let go over the past year amid ongoing layoffs as a cost-cutting measure. Employers have cut DEI roles at a higher rate than others, according to a February study from workforce analytics firm Revelio Labs.

More than 300 DEI professionals departed companies in the last six months, including Amazon.com Inc., Twitter Inc., and Nike Inc., the report found. These diminishing roles have left observers questioning whether the sense of urgency to increase workforce diversity that corporate leaders made almost three years ago was genuine or simply a reactionary business decision to mitigate reputational risk.

“They heard concerns about the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Fast forward to three years later, that push isn’t that much present in the media every day and prevalent on social media,” said Robert Baldwin III, founder and managing attorney at Virtue Law Group, a plaintiff-side labor and employment firm.

“Since that push isn’t that prevalent,” they don’t feel the pressure to prioritize racial diversity and inclusion, he said.

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Comments

“More than 300 DEI professionals”

1. This is not a profession. These people are not professionals.

2. 300 is a drop in the bucket.

3. I would call this a wonderful development but I’ll wait and see if the trend continues. They might be the first people hired back when things turn around. Or, they might have to look for less destructive jobs. Time will tell.