Google tells employees why it’s ending DEI hiring goals

Google is joining Meta, Amazon, and other big tech companies in winding down its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

In a Wednesday memo to employees that I obtained (and you can read below), Google’s head of HR, Fiona Cicconi, said there will no longer be DEI hiring targets due to the company’s status as a federal contractor and recent “court decisions and US Executive Orders on this topic.” As The Wall Street Journal notes, Google also removed a line included in previous annual SEC reports saying that it’s “committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion part of everything we do.”

Google spokesperson Chloe Cooper tells The Verge the company is “committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there.”

At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement back in 2020, Google publicly said it would aim to increase “leadership representation of underrepresented groups” by 30 percent — a goal it achieved in 2022. Now that ending DEI programs across America has become a top priority of the Trump administration, …

Read the full story at The Verge.