In the United States, the “anti-DEI era” is not producing a simple disappearance of diversity programs. It is producing a redesign of HR. A major turning point came on January 21, 2025, when President Donald Trump revoked Executive Order 11246 and ordered federal agencies to stop encouraging affirmative-action-style “workforce balancing” by contractors. Then, on March 26, 2026, the White House went further: a new order said federal contractors must not engage in “racially discriminatory DEI activities,” explicitly naming recruitment, hiring, promotions, training, mentoring, and leadership programs as areas for scrutiny. It also warned of contract cancellation, suspension, debarment, and possible False Claims Act exposure. (whitehouse.gov)
Regulators have reinforced that message. On March 19, 2025, the EEOC said DEI becomes unlawful when an employment decision is motivated, even partly, by race, sex, or another protected trait. Its guidance specifically lists hiring, promotion, compensation, and access to training or leadership-development programs. On February 26, 2026, the EEOC’s acting chair sent a reminder to Fortune 500 CEOs, saying the agency was prepared to use education, compliance efforts, enforcement, and litigation to push “merit-based employment decisions.” (eeoc.gov)
Large companies have already adjusted. Google scrapped some diversity hiring targets in February 2025, and Alphabet removed a sentence from its annual report saying DEI was “part of everything we do.” Meta ended major DEI programs, including its diverse-slate hiring approach and representation goals, although its 2024 annual report still says it wants an “inclusive workplace” and is trying to reduce bias in hiring and performance systems. Citi said in February 2025 that it would end aspirational representation goals and stop requiring diverse candidate slates and diverse interview panels. McDonald’s also retired specific diversity goals for senior leadership. (apnews.com)
The likely result is a more cautious, lawyer-reviewed version of talent management. HR teams are shifting away from numerical representation targets and toward structured interviews, skills-based assessments, written promotion criteria, and programs that are formally open to everyone. Even the language is changing: “DEI” is often being replaced by softer terms such as “inclusion,” “belonging,” or “opportunity.” In short, many American firms are no longer asking only how to diversify the workforce; they are asking how to prove that every hire and every promotion can survive legal attack. (eeoc.gov)










