Support among employees for corporate DEI — “diversity, equity, and inclusion” — initiatives has continued to fall in recent months, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The report, which comes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-based college admission standards as unconstitutional, said that a growing number of employees are apathetic about such initiatives.
“There are people who say, ‘I really wish we were more diverse,’ and I’ve also seen people say, ‘Stop being so woke,’” Sarah Sharp, a vice president of human resources at Clayton, a home builder based out of Tennessee, told the outlet.
Just 32 percent of workers said they believed working for an ethnically diverse employer was “very important” to them, while 38 percent said it was “not too/not at all important,” according to a Pew Research Center survey. The same survey, meanwhile, found that only about one-quarter, or 26 percent, of workers find an “equal mix of men and women” to be “very important” in the workplace, while 44 percent said it’s not important.
The Daily Caller added:
The attitude from companies towards DEI funding is also changing, according to the WSJ. A Gallup survey of 140 human resource chiefs revealed that 59% plan to increase their DEI budgets in the next year, while 84% had responded they would in 2022.
Jonathan McBride, who is in charge of DEI at Heidrick & Struggles, a recruiting firm, is concerned about the impact the Supreme Court ruling on race-based admissions in higher education could have on companies, according to the WSJ.
“If you say this about college admission, what about hiring?” McBride told the WSJ.
Certain companies have encountered negative reactions due to their attempts to cater to the LGBTQ community.
Following Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer, in April, the company experienced a 31 percent decline in sales since mid-May. In June, both Target and Kohl’s faced repercussions for their LGBTQ merchandise, with Target witnessing a $15 billion decrease in market capitalization and Kohl’s experiencing a 20 percent drop in its share price.
