Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian said he expects companies that abandon DEI practices in hiring to reverse course quickly.
Ohanian told Forbes in a video interview this week that he thinks many “short-sighted organizations” are “following a cultural trend” by doing away with DEI in hiring practices.
“I think you have an opportunity right now for the leaders who understand the real why, which is your organization is going to be better off if you’re creating the broadest funnel for talent you can, and they’re actually going to do really well right now,” Ohanian said.
He added that companies with successful DEI practices are not focused on “an acronym” or “box-checking” but “actually building in policies in your organization that support a wide range of people.”
“I think that the biggest sham is that we have somehow identified these types of goals with not being meritocratic,” Ohanian told Forbes. “Those of us who’ve been out here building multibillion-dollar companies with an eye towards having diversity, equity, and inclusion, we’re hiring for greatness. That never stopped.”
Ohanian’s comments come as the conversation around diversity, equity, and inclusion continues to intensify under President Donald Trump, who has signed anti-DEI executive orders. One former US attorney said he was put on leave after criticizing the Trump administration’s anti-DEI policies in education. The FCC, under Trump, has also launched investigations into Comcast and Disney over DEI practices.
“In particular, I want to ensure that Disney and ABC have not been violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” FCC commissioner Brendan Carr wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Business Insider’s Peter Kafka.
Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, said in the Forbes interview that companies that continue to hire with DEI in mind will “have our pick of so many tremendous people.”
“It’s disappointing, but it is what it is,” he said. “You got to play the game on the field. And so right now, I think for the CEOs who are interested in hiring for the very best, you’re going to have an even bigger pool of talent to choose from.
Ohanian, 41, cofounded Reddit in 2005 and left the company in 2020, asking to be replaced on its board with a Black member following the murder of George Floyd. Ohanian earlier this month announced plans to revive Reddit rival Digg with former Digg CEO Kevin Rodes.
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