Google has decided to end its Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the recruitment process. The decision means that the company will no longer have specific targets for hiring people from “underrepresented groups”. This is according to an internal memo to employees, written by Google’s HR manager Fiona Cicconi, which The Verge has seen.
In the memo, Cicconi explains that the decision is a consequence of Google’s status as a federal contractor and is influenced by “court decisions and presidential orders in the US” relating to the subject. She also mentions that the company is now “carefully evaluating” other DEI initiatives that may involve “risk” or “aren’t as impactful as we’d hoped”.
However, a Google spokesperson, Chloe Cooper, emphasizes to The Verge that the company remains “committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities”. She adds that over the past year, the company has been reviewing its programs to ensure they are achieving these goals.
The decision to end DEI targets comes after Google in 2020, during the height of the violent Black Lives Matter movement, publicly pledged to increase the percentage of leaders from “underrepresented groups” by 30 percent – a goal that was achieved by 2022. But now, as dismantling DEI programs has become a priority for the Trump administration, Google is choosing to change course.
Google is not alone in this change. The company is following in the footsteps of other tech giants such as Meta and Amazon, which have also cut back on their “diversity initiatives”. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has also removed a previous line of text in its annual reports, in which the company assured that diversity was “part of everything” it does. This line has been there since 2021.
In the internal memo, Cicconi stresses that the decision is part of an annual policy review and that the company continues to strive for an inclusive workplace, although some programs are now being phased out.
