A recent report by the Human Rights Campaign and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation shows that companies that abandon or rollback their DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives and policies have negative effects on both employees and employers.

DEI initiatives aim to provide equal opportunities in the workplace regardless of race, colour, religion, national origin, and sex. In January of last year, Trump signed an executive order revoking the Equal Employment Opportunity and he dismantled DEI programmes within the federal government.

The executive orders alone do not legally require companies to remove DEI practices, but there is strong encouragement and fear of boycotts.

According to the HRC report, 39.1% of US workers surveyed said their employers have reduced their DEI practices to some extent. Some of the major corporations that ditched diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, citing Trump’s executive order as the excuse, include Amazon, Aldi, Accenture, Coca-Cola, Disney, Google, McDonald’s, and Meta.

Meta went an extra step and updated its Hateful Conduct Policy, allowing previously prohibited language on its platforms. 

The HRC research notes that nearly half of LGBTQ+ adults reported being less out in public or work settings in the last twelve months. Over half of those in companies that rolled back their DEI said they experienced bias or stigma, compared to less than a quarter of those in organisations that kept their DEI initiatives.

Workers also reported decreased productivity over the last twelve months. The effect of the last year was especially notable among LGBTQ+ workers. More than eight in 10 reported a risk of leaving their now-hostile work environments.

Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign and Human Rights Campaign Foundation, stated in the report, “They don’t even want you to know how bad it is. The CDC has stopped collecting data on LGBTQ+ Americans. The Census Bureau has stopped counting us. The Department of Labor has stopped tracking us. Think about that.

“They are erasing us from the record—not because we don’t exist, but because they don’t want evidence of what they’re doing to us. If they don’t count the harm, they don’t have to answer for it. Well, we refuse to be erased. And we refuse to be silent.”

This attempted erasure from recorded data and public life is why surveys are so important for collecting data on the experience of the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ people have been encouraged to take part in Ireland’s National Community Safety Survey, which you can read about here.

The rollback of DEI practices in workplaces has a marked negative effect on both workers and employers, creating less welcoming and less productive environments. The HRC has important resources on DEI in the workplace here.