What just happened? Google is following in the footsteps of Meta and Amazon by eliminating its goal of hiring from historically underrepresented groups while also reviewing its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The company has reportedly informed employees of the change, while parent firm Alphabet has removed a phrase about commitment to DEI from its annual report.
“In 2020, we set aspirational hiring goals and focused on growing our offices outside California and New York to improve representation,” Fiona Cicconi, Alphabet’s chief people officer, said in an email to staff (via Reuters). “…but in the future we will no longer have aspirational goals.”
Another indication of the change came in Alphabet’s annual report. The sentence stating that Alphabet is “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” was removed. It had appeared in reports from 2021 to 2024.
Also read: Google abandons ‘do no harm’ AI stance, opens door to military weapons
Google had been one of the loudest proponents of diversity hiring in the tech industry. CEO Sundar Pichai said in 2020 that the company aimed to have 30% of its leaders from underrepresented groups by 2025. At the time, around 96% of Google’s US leaders were white or Asian, and 73% globally were men.
Google is also evaluating whether to continue releasing its diversity report that it has published since 2014. The Wall Street Journal reports that the move is part of a wider review of DEI-related grants, training, and initiatives, including those that “raise risk, or that aren’t as impactful as we’d hope,” read the email.
Google’s 2024 diversity report said 5.7% of its US employees were Black and 7.5% were Latino. That represents increases of 2% and 1.6%, respectively, compared to four years earlier.
Google added that it is reviewing court decisions and executive orders by Donald Trump aimed at curbing DEI in the government and among federal contractors, as Google falls into the latter category.
Google will continue to support internal employee groups such as Trans at Google, Black Googler Network and the Disability Alliance, which the company has said inform decisions around products and policies. The report said it will also continue to open offices in cities with diverse workforces.
Last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company was ending its DEI programs, including those focused on hiring, training and picking suppliers from underrepresented communities. Amazon, meanwhile, has said it is winding down outdated programs and materials related to representation and inclusion.
Several tech companies have been quick to toe the line with the Trump administration’s stance toward DEI programs. The threat of legal consequences for not doing so is probably expediting the policy changes.
In other Google news this week, the company removed a key passage from its AI principles that previously committed to avoiding the use of AI in potentially harmful applications, including weapons.