DEI: Which companies have rolled back their commitments?

In the not-so-distant past, businesses across the globe were competing to be known for their strong, unwavering stances on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Bold, supportive statements filled company websites, social media campaigns, and corporate reports, each striving to demonstrate a commitment to fostering fair and inclusive workplaces.

But just as DEI became commonplace – furthered by the murder of George Floyd in 2020 – the backlash began as what some have termed ‘culture wars’ seeped into the workplace. 

President Trump’s initial term saw DEI firmly in the crosshairs, and his second term – bolstered by high-profile support from the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg – catalyzed its demise. 

At the start of 2025, the global conglomerates that once stood for equality are now rolling back their promises – with varying reasons, but still sending the same message.

Some businesses have maintained their stance, such as Costco, Microsoft, Apple, and Delta Airlines – while some have seen different regional arms take opposing stances, such as Deloitte and McDonalds in the US and the UK.

Meanwhile, others have moved to drop DEI from their agenda altogether. 

At UNLEASH, we wanted to explore which major employers are rolling back their initiatives and why.

*This article will be updated as and when there are future updates.

AT&T

Anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck claimed another corporate victim in early March 2025, announcing via a post on X that telecommunications giant AT&T would be rolling back many of its DEI initiatives and policies.

Starbuck wrote that AT&T will be stopping all of its DEI training, drop the use of ‘pronoun pins’ within its employee style guide, and remove the Chief Diversity Officer position from its hierarchy. Michelle Jordan, who previously held the role, is now listed on LinkedIn as VP of Culture and Inclusion.

In addition, AT&T will no longer fund LGBTQ+ suicide prevention group The Trevor Project or events and editorial initiative Turn Up The Love, or participate in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

Victoria’s Secret

In early March 2025, the lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret announced via an internal memo that it was halting its diversity-focused initiatives, including promotion targets for Black employees, while removing dedicated DEI sections of its website – references to DEI online have now been replaced by “equity and belonging”.

Victoria’s Secret previously committed to a $45 million investment in DEI over the next five years, after parent company L Brands settled lawsuits that alleged workplace misconduct, including bullying and sexual harassment.

State Street

The organization responsible for the Fearless Girl statue outside the New York Stock Exchange, State Street announced it was rolling back its DEI commitments at the end of February.

The banking and financial services giant has dropped its diversity targets for corporate boards, whereby companies represented on major indexes to be 30% female and S&P 500 companies to have at least one racial minority director.

The requirement was removed from State Street’s proxy voting guidelines, in an attempt to align with global protocols and local laws and regulations.

Warner Bros. Discovery & Paramount

At the end of February, media and entertainment giants Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed within days of each other a withdrawal from previous DEI commitments.

In a move to accommodate President Trump’s executive orders, Paramount announced that it would no longer use diversity targets within its talent acquisition strategy, according to an internal memo from co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins. It will also no longer collect race, sex, ethnicity or gender data among US-based job applicants

A day later, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced via an internal memo that the organization would also just be focusing on inclusion moving forward, at the cost of diversity and equity.

The memo stated the WBD’s efforts in this space would now be solely referred to as ‘Inclusion’, will cease participation in third-party workplace surveys and will implement a ‘uniform’ approach to hiring, including internships, mentoring and other development programs.

Bank of America

The financial services world continued to distance itself from DEI at the end of February and Bank of America joined its peers by confirming it would be scrapping some of its DEI goals, specifically around diversity.

The bank stated it would drop aspirational goals for diversity and inclusion, and would also remove requirements for hiring managers to consider candidates from diverse pools. The language of its most recent annual filing also removed references to ‘diversity’ in favor of other language.

Bank of America’s annual report, filed on 25 February, stated: “We are deliberate about the many ways we seek to create an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their career goals.”

BlackRock

The largest asset manager in the world joined the ranks of organizations pulling back from DEI commitments in late February.

BlackRock announced via an internal memo, signed by CEO Larry Fink, President Rob Kapito and Head of HR, Caroline Heller, that the bank would be rolling back on DEI due to the changing legal and policy landscape in the US.

The financial services giant confirmed it is removing some of its DEI objectives and will no longer require hiring managers to recruit from a diverse pool of candidates. It will also scrap dedicated DEI teams and instead create a new talent and culture team in its place. References to DEI were also scrubbed from BlackRock’s most recent annual report.

Citigroup

Citigroup became the latest financial institution to drop its DEI initiatives at the end of February 2025, as pressure from the Trump administration continued to put employers under public scrutiny.

The New York-based banking group – again via internal communications – confirmed it would be no longer require new hires to be selected from a group of diverse candidates, as well as renaming its diversity, equity and inclusion and talent management team to the talent management and engagement team, and dropping previous ‘aspirational representation goals.’

KPMG

Following a similar move by competitor Deloitte – which instructed US staff to remove pronouns from emails and warned it would be sunsetting its DEI program and annual diversity report – KPMG scrubbed years of DEI reports from its website in late February 2025.

The US arm of the consultancy confirmed it would also be ending its Accelerate 2025 talent strategy which aimed to increase diversity in its recruitment and retention, citing pressure from President Trump and legal obligations on government contractors.

PepsiCo

Snack and beverage giant PepsiCo confirmed it was dropping its DEI approach in late February 2025, with CEO Ramon Lauguarta stating in an internal memo to employees it would instead be adopting a new ‘Inclusion for Growth’ strategy, according to reports. The move is intended to signal the end of the company’s five-year DEI strategy.

As part of the move away from its DEI focuses, Pepsi will remove its dedicated DEI officer and transition them into a wider role at the company, sunset various workforce representational targets and widen its supplier baser to include smaller companies.

Disney

Addressing the changes to its DEI policies in a letter to its employees in February 2025, the entertainment giant’s CHRO, Sonia Coleman, shared that the company will be moving away from ‘diversity and inclusion’ and focusing on ‘talent strategy’.

What’s more, an advisory message that played before certain films, such as Peter Pan, has been removed. The message, which was first added in 2020, read: “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures.”

This has now been replaced with the film which reads: “This program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions.”

Additionally, the company’s ‘Reimagine Tomorrow’ program, which was introduced to uplift underrepresented communities by sharing stories, has been scrapped.

Accenture

Just a few weeks after President Trump’s inauguration, Accenture decided it was ‘sunsetting’ its DEI targets.

Company CEO Julie Sweet informed employees in February 2025 via an internal memo, which stated that although it will be ending its career development programs for ‘people of specific demographic groups,’ it will be continuing to publicly report on its workforce demographic.

Sweet expressed that the decision came after evaluating its internal policies and practices in comparison to the “evolving landscape in the United States including recent executive orders with which we must comply.”

Goldman Sachs

Banking giant Goldman Sachs was perhaps a likely candidate to end up on the list of employers stepping away from DEI policies – its CEO, David Solomon, previously called working from home an “aberration” having pushed for return-to-office mandates since early 2022.

In February 2025 it joined the ranks of other institutions quickly dropping DEI commitments in the wake of President Trump’s inauguration, with vice chair Richard Gnodde stating a policy against advising clients with all-male, all-white boards had served its purpose and was to be scrapped.

However, the bank also released a public statement that said boards “benefit from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and we will encourage them to take this approach.” At the same time, Goldman moved to sunset its annual diversity report and wider DEI programs.

In late February, Goldman Sachs also removed the diversity and inclusion section from its annual report.

Google

In early February, Google parent company Alphabet announced it was scrapping its diversity hiring goals in line with the Supreme Court ruling and President Trump’s directive to remove DEI initiatives in US government agencies.

Alongside its target to hire more staff from historically underrepresented groups, Google also confirmed it was reviewing some of its other DEI policies but did not elaborate on which.

The company had previously included the statement that it “committed to making diversity, equity and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve” in its annual reports between 2021 and 2023. It was not included in the 2024 version, filed at the start of year.

After The Wall Street Journal first reported on the move, Google issued a public statement that reflected the change of approach: “We’ve updated our 10-k 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.”

Amazon

Amazon is no stranger to criticism of its employment practices, having drawn fire for putting workers throughout its global warehouses and delivery teams under extreme working conditions – such as denying drivers bathroom breaks and shortchanging warehouse workers – as part of its drive towards greater productivity.

Having previously championed DEI initiatives, Amazon told employees in mid-December 2024 that it would be rolling back some of these initiatives in response to increasing legal and public scrutiny. Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s VP of inclusive experiences and technology, said in an internal memo that the company was in the process of winding down outdated programs as part of a wider review.

In early February, it was reported that Amazon had removed all references to DEI from its 2024 annual report.

McDonalds

Donald Trump makes no secret of his love of McDonalds, so it was perhaps little surprise that in January 2025, the fast-food giant said it was revising its DEI program after its previous policy had achieved its objectives.

The company cited the 2023 US Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in college admissions as it confirmed it would be focused solely on inclusion going forward, dropping diversity and equity from its policies. This included removing diversity goals for senior leadership.

McDonalds will also close its program encouraging suppliers to develop diversity training and to increase minority group member numbers within its own leadership levels. It will also put a pause on external surveys, but did not provide any specifics.

Meta

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads announced in early January 2025 that it was ending its DEI practices immediately, in response to the changing US legal and policy landscape. This was largely reported as a move by Mark Zuckerberg to curry favor with President Trump, in a similar fashion to Elon Musk.

In addition to axing its dedicated DEI team, Meta put a stop to equity and inclusion programs, supplier diversity efforts, and its diverse-slate hiring approach. In an interview with Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg also stated that corporations needed more “masculine energy”.

In February 2025, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative – a for-profit philanthropic organization founded by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan – announced it was dropping DEI policies, after having previously stated it wouldn’t be doing so.

Walmart

The biggest employer on the planet was a vocal supporter of DEI initiatives and social equality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. However, just over four years later, the retailer announced it would be phasing out several of its DEI initiatives.

Threatened with losing customers boycotting stores continuing to support DEI, Walmart announced in November 2024 that it would be dropping racial equality training for employees, evaluation programs designed to increase supplier diversity, and would no longer stock or sell LGBTQ+ merchandise according to reports.

Alongside a review on future funding to Pride, Walmart confirmed it would not be renewing its commitment to the Center for Racial Equity – a non-profit organization it established in 2020.

Toyota

In October 2024 momentum against corporate DEI was beginning to build a head of steam in the US, driven by conservative activist, Robby Starbuck.

Toyota became the latest employer to announce it was moving away from its DEI commitments by withdrawing future sponsorship of LGBT+ events such as Pride and confirming it would reduce its community activities to instead align with STEM education. It also stated it would no longer participate in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

Just two months later, fellow automotive manufacturer Nissan announced similar steps to move away from its DEI policies across its US operations following pressure from Starbuck.

Boeing

New leaders also face significant scrutiny and Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg was no exception towards the end of 2024. In October last year, the aviation company announced it was disbanding its DEI department, which also saw the departure of VP and department head, Sara Liang Bowen.

The rollback was attributed to a wider restructuring strategy across the entire business as Boeing attempted to arrest financial pressures and refocus on core business areas, such as airplane production and civil defense contracts.

Boeing had previously come under fire from Elon Musk over its DEI policies. In January 2024, Musk seemed to imply that Boeing’s focus DEI was a safety risk, posting on X: “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening.”

Ford

Back in August 2024, Ford Motors announced the amendment of its DEI policies, noting alterations had already begun, such as scaling back employee resource groups and ceasing participation in the Corporate Equality Index, operated by LGBTQ advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign.

Ford’s employees were informed via a memo from company CEO Jim Farley, explaining that he had been assessing the policies for a year.

The memo said: “We will continue to put our effort and resources into taking care of our customers, our team, and our communities versus publicly commenting on the many polarizing issues of the day.”

Tractor Supply

The Tennessee-based company announced the elimination DEI roles in July 2024, while also abandoning its DEI goals.

This included stopping the sponsorship of non-business activities, such as Pride-related activities and voting campaigns, and focusing on its internal Team Member Engagement Groups to mentor, network, and support the business.

The farming equipment and pet supply retailer also declared that rather than continuing its journey towards its carbon emission goals, it will instead focus on land and water conservation efforts.