Posted on January 10, 2025
Mike Allen and Sara Fischer, Axios, January 10, 2025
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is terminating major DEI programs, effective immediately — including for hiring, training and picking suppliers, according to a new employee memo obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The move is a strong signal to Meta employees that the company’s push to make inroads with the incoming Trump administration isn’t just posturing, but an ethos shift that will impact its business practices.
Context: Meta said it was changing course because the “legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” per a memo by Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources.
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Zoom in: Citing the “shifting legal and policy landscape,” Meta’s memo announced five big DEI pullbacks.
- Cutting Meta’s DEI team: Meta will no longer have a team focused on DEI. Maxine Williams, the company’s chief diversity officer, is taking on a new role at Meta, focused on accessibility and engagement, Gale wrote.
- Ending equity and inclusion programs: Meta will instead build programs “that focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background,” Gale said.
- Sunsetting supplier diversity efforts: Meta will end efforts to source business suppliers from diverse-owned businesses. {snip}
- Ending the “Diverse Slate Approach” to hiring: While Meta will continue to source candidates from different backgrounds, it will no longer use the diverse-slate hiring approach, which ensures a diverse pool of candidates is considered for every open position. {snip}
- Ending representation goals: Having representation goals, “can create the impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender,” Gale wrote. “While this has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it,” she said. She noted the company, “previously ended representation goals for women and ethnic minorities.”
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