Google has become the latest big tech company to scrap diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the wake of President Donald Trump’s attacks against such programs.
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Google informed employees on Wednesday that it is abandoning hiring targets intended to increase recruitment of workers from underrepresented groups. In an internal email, Google’s HR chief Fiona Cicconi stated that the company would no longer aim to improve diverse representation in its workforce, and will be reevaluating its DEI programs.
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“[I]n 2020, we set aspirational hiring goals and focused on growing our offices outside California and New York to improve representation,” Cicconi wrote, as shared by The Verge. “We’ll continue to invest in states across the U.S. — and in many countries globally — but in the future we will no longer have aspirational goals.”
Cicconi did state that its Employee Resource Groups will remain. However, it seems that Google is otherwise eliminating any mention of diversity, equity, or inclusion.
Last week, Google’s “Belonging” webpage explicitly stated that it was taking “targeted action” to address “disability inclusion,” “gender equality,” “LGBTQ+ inclusion,” “racial equality,” and “veteran inclusion.” It also featured a quote from Chief Diversity Officer Melonie Parker, stating, “Building belonging for everyone means ensuring no one is left out and each person can thrive.”
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The page has now been updated to remove any mention of Google’s previous “key issues,” replacing them instead with generic, vague pledges to “better reflect the billions of people who use our products” and “[build] a Google for all of us to build helpful products for everyone.”
“To build products that help billions of people reach their goals, we’re bringing together talented people from everywhere and empowering them to do their best work,” reads the new quote from Parker. While Parker is still listed as Chief Diversity Officer on her LinkedIn profile, Google now calls her “VP, People Operations,” and has removed her pronouns.
Google’s Belonging page as of Jan. 31.
Credit: Screenshot: Mashable / Google
Google’s Belonging page as of writing.
Credit: Screenshot: Mashable / Google
“I want to be clear: we’ve always been committed to creating a workplace where we hire the best people wherever we operate, create an environment where everyone can thrive, and treat everyone fairly,” said Cicconi in her memo to Google employees.
“Every year, we review the programs designed to help us get there and make changes. And because we are a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes to our programs required to comply with recent court decisions and U.S. Executive Orders on this topic.”
Trump has aggressively worked to dismantle DEI programs since taking office on Jan. 20, signing an executive order terminating all federal DEI programs in one of his first acts as president. Google technically isn’t obligated to follow Trump’s anti-DEI order, as it is not a U.S. government entity. Even so, it seems as though the tech giant hopes following along will earn it Trump’s good graces — as well as help it retain its lucrative government contracts. Earlier this week it was reported that Google has deleted its pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance.
Google’s parent company Alphabet also eliminated any mention of diversity, equity, or inclusion from its annual report to the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) on Tuesday. The Guardian reports that prior to this, Alphabet’s annual SEC filings had regularly affirmed that it was “committed to making diversity, equity and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve” since 2021.
“We’re committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there,” Google said in a statement to Mashable. “We’ve updated our [SEC report’s] language to reflect this, and as a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes required following recent court decisions and executive orders on this topic.”
Google’s decision follows similar measures at Meta and Amazon, with both cutting DEI programs in the lead up to Trump’s inauguration.
