The Latest From Accenture, PBS, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Disney, McKinsey, Google [February 2025]

The landscape of DEI has changed significantly over the past couple of months in the US. Some companies have followed Trump’s executive orders to roll back their DEI initiatives, while others stand firm in their diversity and inclusion stances.

With so many changes to DEI in a short matter of time, it isn’t easy to keep up with where companies stand with DEI. This is why POCIT is creating a new series where we update you on the latest changes to DEI every month.

Remember to revisit this page throughout February for updates.

Accenture

After evaluating the political landscape in the US, Deloitte recently announced that it would scrap its global diversity and inclusion goals, as stated by The Financial Times. Chief executive Julie Sweet sent a memo to staff explaining that the company would be  “sunsetting” its diversity goals set in 2017. It also plans to end its career development programs for “people of specific demographic groups.”

Disney

Walt Disney Co. is withdrawing diversity from the basis for deciding manager compensation, according to Bloomberg. Leaders will now be evaluated on how well they endorse company values and embody different perspectives. It will also end its Reimagine Tomorrow inclusion program. Staff were told of these changes in an announcement by Chief Human Resources Officer Sonia Coleman.

“What won’t change is our commitment to fostering a company culture where everyone belongs, and everyone can excel, enabling us to deliver the globally appealing entertainment that drives our business,” Coleman shared in the memo.

The company is also updating the language of its content warnings. Previously, users received auto-play content advisory disclaimers that would appear for older films on Disney+ like “Dumbo” and “Peter Pan.” These warnings would tell viewers that the film includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of peoples or cultures.”

Now, the warning will say “This program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions.”

McKinsey

McKinsey & Co. is not joining the list of companies scrapping their DEI efforts; it pledges to prioritize diversity across its workforce, as reported by Bloomberg. Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels told staff in a memo that some people have asked if the company plans to continue to prioritize diversity in their meritocracy.

“The answer is yes. We will continue to boldly pursue both because these two things together — our diverse meritocracy — is what makes us distinctive and has defined who we are over our nearly 100 years,” he said.

Deloitte

Deloitte recently shared that it would scrap its diversity goals and urged government contract employees to remove gender pronouns from their email signatures, according to The Financial Times. The firm told consultants to remove pronouns highlighting their gender from external emails to align with emerging government client practices and requirements,” as stated by people with similar details.

However, Deloitte’s UK senior partner and chief executive Richard Houston informed staff in an email that diversity “remains a priority” despite the US firm’s plans for DEI.

Goldman Sachs

Not long ago, Goldman Sachs announced that it had removed a policy intended to promote diversity on the boards of companies that it takes public. The policy, introduced in 2020, stated that Goldman would only enlist a company’s starting public offering if it had at least one board member from a diverse background.

The Guardian reported that Goldman said, “As a result of legal developments related to board diversity requirements, we ended our formal board diversity policy.”

Google

Google’s online and mobile calendars no longer reference Black History Month, Women’s History Month, LGBTQ+ holidays, and other events. The Verge first reported that the calendars previously highlighted the beginning of Black History Month in February and Pride Month in June, but these events do not exist for 2025.

Madison Cushman Veld, a Google spokesperson, gave The Guardian a statement about the calendar: “Some years ago, the Calendar team started manually adding a broader set of cultural moments in a wide number of countries around the world. We got feedback that some other events and countries were missing – and maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable.”

PBS

Following President Trump’s executive orders, PBS is closing its Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office. NBC reviewed a memo sent to staff by PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger stating that on the advice of PBS’ legal counsel, the DEI office was shut, and DEI staffers Gina Leow and Cecilia Loving will leave PBS.

“In order to best ensure we are in compliance with the President’s executive order around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion we have closed our DEI office,” they said in the memo.

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