Google Pulls Back From DEI Based on Trump’s Executive Order, Joining Meta and Amazon

In a move based upon a review of President Donald Trump’s executive order relating to the removal of DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) efforts concerning federal government workers and federal contractors, per USA Today, Alphabet’s Google appears poised to roll back some of its own DEI initiatives.

The decision to abandon DEI hiring practices and targets comes after a review of company policies, as the BBC outlined.

“We’re committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities,” a Google spokesperson said. “We’ve updated our [annual investor report] 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.”

An email to employees sent a similar message. The Independent shared an excerpt of the email, in which Google said it is “evaluating changes to our programs required to comply [with the executive order].”

“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,” Google’s Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi wrote.

“[Google has] 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. That’s exactly what you can expect to see going forward,” Cicconi continued.

Google’s DEI Reversal Follows Years of Commitment to the Program

Google’s turn on the DEI front follows a lengthy period of time to the contrary.

Following the murder of George Floyd while in police custody in 2020, many companies in the U.S. and abroad accelerated existing commitments to diversity efforts, strictly labeled as DEI or otherwise. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai then created a goal of increasing the number of leaders within the company coming from diverse backgrounds by 30% over a five-year span, according to the BBC.

The company claims to have nearly doubled the number of Black individuals within its leadership since 2020, and according to its 2024 Diversity Report, 7.5% of Google’s U.S. workforce is Latino/Latina, 5.7% are Black, and 45.7% are Asian. In turn, 45.3% are white. Women account for 33.4% of the employee roster, while men make up the remaining 66.6%.

Trump’s Anti-DEI Executive Order Leaves Little Room for Interpretation

Trump’s executive order targeting DEI efforts connected to federal agencies and contractors was plain in its language.

Laying the blame for the increased DEI efforts at the feet of the Biden administration, the executive order stated:

“The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military… That ends today.  Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”

The EO then went on to empower and order the director of the Office of Personnel Management, with the assistance of the attorney general, to excise DEI language, programs, and positions from all possible government organs and those who might contract with the federal government.

Google Is the Latest To Retreat From DEI as Target Faces Lawsuit

Google’s pullback from DEI initiatives signals something of a sea change as major corporations move, willingly or reluctantly, away from the practice. Meta, Amazon, PepsiCo, McDonald’s, Tractor Supply, Harley-Davidson, and Walmart have also made similar moves in the days preceding and following Trump’s inauguration.

Further, despite retreating from DEI programs in recent days, national retailer Target is now facing a lawsuit as a result of its former DEI-related marketing campaigns. The lawsuit targets CEO Brian Cornell and other executives, accusing them of being remiss in adequately explaining the dangers of consumer boycotts coming about as an oppositional result of the company’s DEI policy at the time.