Last month, I reported that a Boeing-made satellite, Intelsat 33e, exploded in space this week following an “anomaly,” resulting in its total loss.
Add to the Starliner troubles, with its crew forced to stay at the International Space Station until February, and a strike by unhappy union members, 2024 has been a dreadful year for the firm’s iconic space business.
However, there are signs that Boeing may be addressing what is arguably the root cause of the problem: Rewards given based on social justice doctrine rather than merit.
Boeing is reportedly dismantled its global diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department as part of an overhaul of its operations ordered by the company’s new chief.
The aerospace giant — which was slammed by tech mogul Elon Musk for prioritizing DEI over safety and quality controls after a near-catastrophic blowout during an Alaska Airlines flight — said staff from its DEI office would be absorbed into another human resources team focused on talent and employee experience, according to Bloomberg News.Sara Liang Bowen, a company vice president who was put in charge of the now-defunct DEI unit, left the company on Thursday.“The team achieved so much — sometimes imperfectly, never easily — and dreamed of doing much more still,” Bowen wrote in a farewell post on LinkedIn.
The successes have been so vast that the firm is now leaving its famed spaced business.
Interestingly, the trends look positive for those who want to see DEI die.
“Job posting demand for diversity roles has been declining very rapidly since its peak in August of 2022 and specifically it fell about 43% through July 2024,” Crofoot said, adding that some companies have axed their DEI roles. (See: Google, Meta and Zoom over the past year.)Lightcast also found that DEI professionals appeared to stay in their roles for a shorter amount of time compared to other types of HR positions.
However, one human resource professional is upset with this development and argues DEI has failed because it wasn’t done the right way.
[Meaghan Nocella, principal consultant at Preve Solutions] is candid about her concerns about the future of DEI hiring. “It’s incredibly frustrating to witness what will almost certainly be a major setback for diversity – and I blame HR,” she said.“We watched the bastardization of DEI unfold, and we let it happen. For some, it probably seemed too big and too fast to stop. Others, including myself, saw the unsustainable pace and fervor but believed it would still result in a net positive. We never imagined it could ultimately set us back.”No one can predict what DEI hiring will look like in the coming years, but as companies navigate the changing landscape, experts say they must focus on cultivating cultures that are grounded in equitable values and demonstrate a genuine commitment to DEI initiatives.Employees, too, should continue to learn about the topic and address unconscious biases to help foster a truly inclusive workplace.
Hopefully, after all the votes are counted, the nation can begin extracting DEI out of its government, too.
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