U.S. Companies Scaling Back DEI Efforts Amid Trumps Orders

Yahoo

22-02-2025

President Donald Trump signs an Executive Order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. Credit - Chris Kleponis—Getty Images
President Donald Trump has been targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts at the federal level, and the impact is being felt far and wide.
On Jan. 20, Trump's first day back in the Oval Office, he signed an Executive Order titled 'Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,' which states that the efforts 'demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination.' Trump then directed all federal DEI staff be placed on paid leave and, eventually, laid off. In another Executive Order, titled 'Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,' Trump reversed multiple previous efforts from the past 50 years that attempted to increase diversity and address discrimination.
Read More: What Is DEI and What Challenges Does It Face Amid Trump's Executive Orders?
Though a federal judge has, for now, largely blocked the Executive Orders that seek to end government support for programs promoting DEI, the seeds of anti-DEI measures have already been planted. A post titled "DEI is dead under the Trump Administration" was uploaded to the White House's social media accounts on Feb. 20.
Trump has fired multiple military officers as a part of his campaign with new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) shuttered its DEI office in December 2024, before Trump returned to the White House. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said it 'never should have been opened."
Trump's efforts at the federal level have not just affected the government. His focus on DEI—which he had also targeted throughout his campaign—comes as major companies also scale back on their DEI initiatives, some in small ways, others by dismantling full branches of their organizations .
Here are the major companies that have scaled back, or fully shuttered, their DEI efforts amid Trump's targeting of the initiatives.
Pepsi wrote in an internal memo, reported by Reuters on the week of Feb. 17, that it will end DEI workforce representation goals at the company, impacting managerial roles and those at its supplier base, according to a memo from PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta. The diversity page on PepsiCo's hiring website is now labelled as 'missing.'
The memo also stated that the business—which includes many snack and beverage brands from Gatorade to Doritos—will prioritize sponsorships that promote business growth.
Pepsi's stance is in contrast to its rival Coca-Cola, who has remained committed to DEI initiatives, stating that one of its goals as a company is 'to be 50% led by women globally by 2030' and 'to have race and ethnicity representation reflect national census data at all levels.​'
On Feb. 11, Axios reported that media giant Disney would be shifting its DEI efforts, utilizing a note to employees sent by chief human resources officer Sonia Coleman.
Coleman reportedly said that Disney will stop its 'Reimagine Tomorrow' initiative—launched to highlight stories and talent from underrepresented communities—and replace certain diversity-related performance factors at the company. Coleman also reportedly said the company will remove content disclaimers that run before certain movies, including Dumbo, which express that the movie 'includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of peoples or cultures'— a practice that began at Disney in October 2020.
A memo from PBS CEO Paula Kerger confirmed in February that the public broadcaster will be ceasing its DEI initiatives, which Kerger said was to 'ensure that we are complying with the President's Executive Order.' She also announced that DEI staffers Gina Leow and Cecilia Loving would be leaving the company.
PBS receives funding for its children's programming through the U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation, filtered through the private Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The news came not long after Trump's head of the Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation into both PBS and NPR over sponsorships and commercials.
Prominent banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Huntington, and Citigroup are scaling back on DEI efforts, both in terms of public facing mentions of DEI and internal programs focusing on diversity.
In JPMorgan Chase's annual regulatory filing for 2024, the company said it 'has been and expects that it will continue to be criticized by activists, politicians, and other members of the public concerning business practices or positions taken by JPMorgan Chase with respect to matters of public policy (such as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives).'
Tech giant Google scrapped its diversity hiring goals amid Trump's Executive Order. Google brings certain services to the federal government.
Per a memo to employees from the company's chief people officer Fiona Cicconi—published by The Verge—Google is reevaluating its DEI programs 'to comply with recent court decisions and U.S. Executive Orders on this topic.'
Google's calendar product also no longer displays some observances, including the start of Black History Month on Feb. 1, Women's History Month on March 1, and Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The parent company of Instagram and Facebook announced in January, prior to Trump's White House return, that they were scaling back their DEI programs. This includes cutting the Meta DEI team, ending inclusion programs more generally, no longer using the diverse-slate hiring approach for hiring, and ending goals to source business suppliers from diverse-owned businesses.
In early January, the Washington Post reported that Amazon had removed several mentions of DEI, Black people, and LGBTQ+ persons from its 'Policy Positions' page. A memo sent to employees and obtained by Bloomberg shared that the company was 'winding down outdated programs and materials' and 'focusing on programs with proven outcomes.'
In an escalation, Amazon's annual report for 2024, filed in February 2025, had no mention of diversity or inclusion, despite the fact that the company's 2023 report included mention of the two phrases as something they 'focus on…to hire and develop the best talent.'
Read More: Civil and Human Rights Organizations Sue Trump Administration Over DEI, Gender Orders
In Nov. 2024, Boeing announced it would be dismantling its DEI team. The company's former vice president of DEI, Sara Bowen, left in November. Announcing the move on LinkedIn, she said: 'It has been the privilege of my lifetime to lead Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Boeing company these past 5+ years. Our team strived every day to support the evolving brilliance and creativity of our workforce. The team achieved so much—sometimes imperfectly, never easily—and dreamed of doing much more still. All of it has been worth it.'
Discount chain Target announced soon after Trump returned to the White House that they would be ending their DEI hiring goals, stopping annual reports to external groups like the Human Rights Campaign—which measures inclusion for employees—and ending a program focused on carrying more products from Black and minority-owned businesses.
The news came before Florida's new Attorney General, James Uthmeier, filed a lawsuit with America First Legal against the store chain, claiming they 'misled investors' by DEI initiatives, arguing that it cost shareholders money.
Shortly before Trump returned to the Oval Office, fast food company McDonald's announced that it would retire its 'Supply Chain's Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge in favor of a more integrated discussion with suppliers about inclusion as it relates to business performance.'
They also stated that the diversity team will now be called the 'Global Inclusion Team,' and that they are stopping general representation goals within the company to focus on 'embed[ing] inclusion practices that grow' the business.
In late 2024, before Trump's Executive Orders but amid his and some other Republicans' calls for DEI initiatives to end, Walmart announced it would phase out several diversity programs and goals in its workplaces.
The retailer will no longer offer DEI training to its employees, the Washington Post reported, and the company will reportedly no longer sell some of its LGBTQ+ merchandise, according to CNBC.
In August 2024, Harley-Davidson announced that it had ended its DEI programs. In a statement posted to X, the company said that they do not have hiring quotas and 'no longer have supplier diversity spend goals.'
'We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community,' the statement read.
Retail company Lowe's shared in an internal memo, obtained by the Associated Press, in August 2024, highlighting the fact they would be scaling back DEI policies as a result of the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling against affirmative action and due to pushback the company was receiving online.
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