Google officially began the process of unwinding the company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs on Friday, a source familiar with the company’s decision-making told Fox News Digital.
The tech giant announced in a February company memo that they were discontinuing their diversity goals of hiring more employees from “underrepresented groups,” and was analyzing whether their other initiatives were in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI in the public and private sector.
Google is now ending their “equity and inclusion employee trainings that the company previously conducted,” per the source.
GOOGLE DROPS DIVERSITY HIRING TARGETS, REVIEWING DEI POLICIES: REPORT
At a Feb. 12 all-staff meeting, Google’s former Head of Diversity Melonie Parker, who now serves as vice president of Google engagement according to her LinkedIn profile, told employees the company was “updating” their training programs that contain “DEI content,” The Guardian reported.
“What’s not changing is we’ve always hired the best person for the job,” Parker reportedly said at the meeting.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai also reportedly told employees that the company has always “deeply cared” about hiring a diverse workforce, but needed to change their policies to be in accordance with Trump’s executive orders.
“Our values are enduring, but we have to comply with legal directions depending on how they evolve,” Pichai said..
META ENDS CORPORATE DEI PROGRAMS
Trump signed executive orders banning DEI from the federal government, and mandating that all federal contractors certify that they don’t promote DEI upon taking office.
Pichai’s comments represent a bit of an about-face on the subject of DEI. In 2020, he announced that the company would seek to increase the “leadership representation of underrepresented groups” by 30% by 2025.
“Listening to the personal accounts of members of our Black Advisory Leadership Group and our Black+ Googlers has only reinforced for me the reality our Black communities face: one where systemic racism permeates every aspect of life, from interactions with law enforcement, to access to housing and capital, to health care, education, and the workplace,” Pichai wrote in a memo at the time.
Google joins a growing list of companies that are changing their tune on DEI programs.
Meta announced that it was dropping its DEI initiatives in January and added UFC boss Dana White to the company’s board.
Amazon told employees in December that it would be “evaluat[ing] [the] effectiveness” of its DEI programs.
Read the full article here
