Softening Previous Language
Household-name companies, like Walmart and Meta, have scaled back diversity, equity and inclusion goals in recent months. These brands are part of a widespread retreat happening across corporate America, according to a New York Times analysis of annual financial filings. It has been as noticeable among tech giants as among drug makers, concert promoters and nearly every sector of the U.S. economy. So far this year the number of companies in the S&P 500 that used the language “diversity, equity and inclusion” in these filings has fallen by nearly 60 percent from 2024. Seventy-eight percent of companies — 297 out of the 381 that have filed their reports so far this year — continue to discuss various diversity and related initiatives, according to the Times analysis, which examined a decade of financial filings known as 10-Ks that public companies submit each year to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But many of them have softened or shifted previous language, by removing the word “equity,” for example, or emphasizing “belonging” rather than D.E.I. Major corporations began to shy away from taking strong stances on D.E.I. before President Trump re-entered office, but the trend accelerated rapidly after. These filings aren’t the only reflection of what companies are doing, or declining to do, to promote diversity, equity and inclusion — but they offer one view of changing stances in the words of the companies themselves. Plenty of language in these filings changes from year to year, though the Times analysis focused specifically on language about D.E.I. In some ways, the shift reflects a pattern of companies chasing what seems most socially and politically expedient. After the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, many companies denounced racial injustice. By 2022, over 90 percent of the S&P 500 had language about D.E.I. in their annual filings. Uber, for example, “committed to becoming an anti-racist company.” Best Buy wrote in a quarterly regulatory filing that “in the wake of George Floyd’s death” the company would strive to “address racial inequities.” By 2024, the social pressure had started to reverse — “critical race theory” was labeled by some senators as “activist indoctrination,” and many states took steps to restrict D.E.I. programs at universities. This backlash was accelerated by a Supreme Court decision in 2023 that struck down affirmative action in college admissions. While that decision was not directed at corporations, some law firms began to face lawsuits over fellowships that were open only to marginalized groups, and other employers started to pay more attention. Mr. Trump then took direct aim at corporations. Soon after his inauguration in January, he issued an executive order that instructed federal agencies to investigate “illegal D.E.I.” in the private sector. He changed the staffing and leadership of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the country’s anti-discrimination laws, putting in place an acting chair who said her priorities included “rooting out unlawful D.E.I.-motivated race and sex discrimination.” Lawyers who have been helping companies navigate the new legal landscape said that some executives were worried about public disclosures on diversity efforts. Company leaders might want to keep their diversity initiatives in place, but realize that describing D.E.I. goals in public documents, like 10-Ks, could prompt scrutiny or government investigation. So some have found ways to hedge or otherwise tweak the language they use to make it more vague.
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