After Trump took office, companies face weakened diversity

A second Trump administration would put further pressure on businesses by reinstating an executive order that Biden quickly rescinded, which prohibited government contractors from providing anti-bias training. When the Republican first proposed the directive as president, many companies paused the training and reassessed their programs, according to Vasu Reddy, state policy director for workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center.

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As part of its 2020 crackdown, Trump’s Labor Department harshly criticized Microsoft Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. — both federal contractors — for promising to double the number of Black executives. It also launched a hotline to root out diversity training that is seen as discriminating against white employees.

The former president pledged to create a team to “swiftly review every action taken by federal agencies that needs to be undone in accordance with Biden’s ‘fairness’ agenda. We will undo nearly all of them. In fact, maybe, all of them,” he said in a video posted on his campaign website last year. More recently, the former president has decried “anti-white sentiment” in the country.

“Trump has made no secret of his hatred for diversity, equity and inclusion,” Ready said. “The goal is really to scare people into avoiding these topics altogether, and I do think you’ll see that — especially with businesses that are really dependent on federal funding,” she added.

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The government can use a number of levers to influence corporate policy. First, it can use the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which provides for anti-discrimination regulations that are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The law prohibits discrimination against anyone, black or white, male or female, although it has traditionally been used to protect underrepresented groups.

Second, the new Trump administration could exercise more direct power by enacting anti-DEI rules that federal contractors must meet to win or maintain government business.

While Trump avoided directly criticizing corporate diversity initiatives during his lengthy speech accepting the Republican nomination, some other speakers at the conference leaned toward that argument.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this month that Democrats were “advocating DEI, which really means ‘divide, exclude and indoctrinate,’ and that’s wrong.”

Robby Starbuck, a filmmaker and anti-DEI activist, said the Trump administration will be more prepared than in 2016 to use its levers of power to get companies that want to do business with the federal government to abandon DEI. Retailer Tractor Supply and tractor maker John Deere dropped diversity programs after Starbucks slammed their policies on social media.

“I think you’re going to see a massive shift” away from corporate DEI, Starbuck said. “You’re going to see change from day one of the Trump administration, maybe even before day one. Let’s get some sanity back to America, let’s get away from all this craziness and find something to unite,” he said.

“a good thing”

Conservative activists, many of whom are poised to exert influence once Trump wins the White House, hope he will go further. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposes amending the Civil Rights Act and removing the terms diversity, equity and inclusion, and gender equality “from every existing federal statute, agency regulation, contract, grant, rule, and legislation.”

Trump has sought to distance himself from the bill, which would have rolled back a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation and ended the collection of gender and race data, even though more than 100 of its leaders served in his administration and many of its ideas align closely with Trump and the Republican platform.

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Despite the political and legal backlash, Americans continue to support diversity initiatives, and the acronym “DEI.” An April Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that 61% of adults believe DEI initiatives in the workplace are “a good thing.” Even higher percentages support specific initiatives such as anti-bias training (75%) and internships for underrepresented groups (70%).

Rebound

Alison Taylor, a professor at New York University who focuses on corporate responsibility and business ethics, said Harris will likely strictly adhere to the Biden administration’s agenda on DEI issues and not take any further action to avoid being attacked by Republicans as being too liberal on these issues and to present herself as a moderate choice.

Harris, the first woman and woman of color to serve as vice president, has faced her own criticism from anti-diversity activists, with some conservative commentators and Republican lawmakers calling her a “DEI hire.”

For companies figuring out how, Taylor warned that such opposition could lead to a backlash. She added that younger employees are particularly prone to liberal ideas and want to work for companies that support disadvantaged groups, which puts the onus on businesses to create “organizations that look like society, that look like their friends.”

According to a Pew Research Center study last year, workers aged 18-29 were most likely to say DEI in the workplace was “a good thing,” with 68% saying so, compared to less than half of workers aged 50-64.

Taylor said that even if Trump is elected as the next president, it would be “dangerous” for companies to change their policies to cater to politics. “It’s crazy to say that we can just do away with ESG and DEI and this is the end of it.”

– Bloomberg