The world’s largest accounting firm, Deloitte, is one of the latest corporations to end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for its private and public practices, The San Francisco Standard reported.
In an email to internal employees sent on Feb. 10, Deloitte’s chief people officer, Doug Beaudoin, said changes are being made after “a detailed review of all pertinent government directives to ensure we comply with their requirements, both as a private enterprise and as a government contractor.”
“We will sunset our workforce and business aspirational diversity goals, our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Transparency Report, and our DEI programming,” he said.
While Beaudoin emphasized that “everyone is welcome at Deloitte,” the company is following the footsteps of other Fortune 500 corporations – Google, Meta and more – who have either scrapped or dialed back their DEI practices. But Deloitte was one company that once stood tall against conservative ideologies and tactics until 2024.
Trump allies caught wind of private messages between a Deloitte employee and then-Ohio senate nominee JD Vance from 2020, where Vance stated he thought Trump “thoroughly failed to deliver” on his economic agenda. Once The Washington Post
got a hold of the messages, Trump allies called on the federal government to punish the consulting company, claiming an executive was trying to interfere with the 2024 election. “An executive at @Deloitte … decided to interfere in the election & leak private convos with JD Vance to help Kamala Harris,” the President’s son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote on X.“Maybe it’s time for the GOP to end Deloitte’s taxpayer-funded gravy train?”
Prior to President Trump’s executive orders to attack DEI initiatives, Deloitte was once a leader in the field, according to the Financial Times
. The firm announced several DEI goals that were projected to be reached in 2025, including a spend of $200 million with “Black-led businesses” and heightening the presence of gender and ethnic diversity for principals, managing directors, and U.S. partners.But now, consultants of the firm who work for the government were asked to remove pronouns that highlight their genders from email signatures, particularly ones sent to external entities, to “to align with emerging government client practices and requirements.”
In light of the latest changes, the email stated Deloitte will still carry out some diversity-related initiatives such as Heritage Month events, internal ethnic networks, and “inclusion councils.” The company also claims that hiring practices will be improved in order to make them “fair and non-discriminatory.”
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