Over the past year or two, as the legacy media has reported that Corporate America has been eliminating its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, NLPC has pointed out on numerous occasions that that is not the case. For example, what used to be categorized as DEI is now just called by other terms, like “belonging.”
However, the acronym has indeed become toxic. And while companies are loath to totally get rid of the policies, at the same time DEI is no longer a growth area nor a promising career path, as Bloomberg reported on Monday:
DEI professionals who lost their jobs [have been left] stranded, competing for roles in a tight job market. Among the jobless population in the broader economy, about a quarter have been unemployed for a half-year or longer — the highest share since the mid-2010s, excluding the pandemic-era years. DEI specialists say they’re getting less interest from recruiters than they did several years ago and fewer interviews from companies. To bolster their chances, professionals have stripped the three letters from resumes and sought roles in adjacent departments such as in human resources, public affairs and marketing. Others have weighed changing careers.
“It’s hard to recall any skill set (sic) becoming obsolete so quickly and completely,” said Peter Cappelli, a management professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School…
Job ads reflect the changed landscape. New postings for diversity roles have approximately halved this year to about 1,500 from 2019 levels, according to Revelio Labs, a firm that analyzes workforces. Postings had almost quadrupled to about 10,000 during the height of the DEI boom in 2022 compared with 2019.
Elsewhere, now that Comcast has almost completed its divestiture of MSNBC into new spin-off parent company Versant, the Philadelphia entertainment and media giant is eliminating reporters from NBC News, which it is holding on to. The Wrap reports:
NBC News eliminated its teams dedicated to covering issues affecting Black, Asian American, Latino and LGBTQ+ groups as part of its layoffs of about 150 staffers on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the matter, a significant culling as the Peacock network separates from its sister news network, MSNBC.
The cuts mean that the verticals NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, NBC Latino and NBC OUT will no longer have dedicated teams bolstering their coverage. The verticals will continue to publish stories related to the specific groups and NBC News may ultimately retain up to five staffers who will contribute coverage on the verticals to the newsroom, according to one source, as the dedicated teams focused exclusively on these verticals are sunset…
The layoffs also reflect the media industry’s larger retreat from efforts focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper chain, removed mentions of diversity from its website in April and said it would stop publishing demographic data on its website.
It is indeed amazing how suddenly sentiment about DEI has shifted. Only two years ago, the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for Colgate-Palmolive, Derek Gordon, was honored as “as one of Savoy Magazine’s 2023 Most Influential Executives in Diversity & Inclusion.” The company added on its social media accounts:
This recognition is a testament to Derek’s commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and beyond.
At Colgate-Palmolive, we believe in fostering an inclusive workplace that empowers our employees to bring their best selves to work.
Today, according to his LinkedIn profile, Gordon is now the “RETIRED Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Colgate-Palmolive.” He wrote in a post on the platform seven months ago:
Its (sic) frustrating to watch organizations abandon their DEI efforts given the purpose of them is to treat people fairly, equally and with respect. It’s clear that respect is far less important in the world today than it was last year.
Regarding DEI, I believe organizations can still commit to developing cultures of respect and inclusiveness. It may not be measured the way that it was a year ago and the activities may evolve, but understanding each other, working together effectively and empowering ourselves to assess talent equally and fairly are simply good management practices.
We do have the power to hold our organizations accountable to continue to work to the culture we aspire to. Speak up!
As we’ve said, despite Mr. Gordon’s frustrations, DEI is not dead yet. NLPC plans more shareholder activities in 2026 that will address the policies in Corporate America, as we did last year.
(Image above created via ChatGPT)
