A surprise but a welcome one, to be sure.
Axios is very upset by this and they say it's just Zuckerberg positioning himself to be friendlier to Trump. The thought that DEI programs are wasteful and illegal and racist and also lead to a bad workforce never, ever crosses their minds, not for a single instance.
Nope, DEI is good and great and good for corporations and any corporation that goes back to merit-based hiring and promotion obviously just wants to appeal to the Baddest Orange Man.
Exclusive: Meta kills DEI programs
Mike Allen, Sara Fischer
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is terminating major DEI programs, effective immediately -- including for hiring, training and picking suppliers, according to a new employee memo obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The move is a strong signal to Meta employees that the company's push to make inroads with the incoming Trump administration isn't just posturing, but an ethos shift that will impact its business practices.
Context: Meta said it was changing course because the "legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing," per a memo by Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources.
Yes, because race-based hiring has been illegal for oh, about 100 years but the left demanded the law be suspended as regards discrimination against white, male, straight and Christian people. That five year suspension of basic law is coming to an end because it's illegal and unfair and the American public has had enough and said so in no uncertain terms two months ago.
The moves come just three days after Meta ended many of its efforts to fact-check and police speech on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
Coordination with the government to censor speech is also illegal, FYI.
The announcement also follows a host of public moves by tech companies and executives to align with the politics and cultural views of President-elect Trump and the MAGA movement.
So none of these companies changed their policies to be more friendly to the leftwing woke Biden Administration? That was just them expressing their true favored policies, but this reversion back to the old ways (and the legal ways) must be due to political pressure?
State of play: Friday's memo by Gale -- announcing changes to "our hiring, development and procurement practices" -- was posted for Meta employees in Workplace, the company's internal communications tool.
"The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing," Gale wrote.
"The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI. ... The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others."
It's illegal and always has been, at least since the modern era of civil rights law.
...
Zoom in: Citing the "shifting legal and policy landscape," Meta's memo announced five big DEI pullbacks.
Cutting Meta's DEI team: Meta will no longer have a team focused on DEI. Maxine Williams, the company's chief diversity officer, is taking on a new role at Meta, focused on accessibility and engagement, Gale wrote.
Ending equity and inclusion programs: Meta will instead build programs "that focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background," Gale said.
Sunsetting supplier diversity efforts: Meta will end efforts to source business suppliers from diverse-owned businesses. Moving forward, the company will "focus our efforts on supporting small and medium-sized businesses that power much of our economy," Gale wrote.
Ending the "Diverse Slate Approach" to hiring: While Meta will continue to source candidates from different backgrounds, it will no longer use the diverse-slate hiring approach, which ensures a diverse pool of candidates is considered for every open position. "We believe there are other ways to build an industry-leading workforce and leverage teams made up of world-class people from all types of backgrounds," Gale wrote.
Ending representation goals: Having representation goals, "can create the impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender," Gale wrote. "While this has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it," she said. She noted the company, "previously ended representation goals for women and ethnic minorities."
Zoom out: Data suggests tech employees tend to be more liberal than their employers. But over the last year, the public sentiment has shifted about corporations taking a stand on major issues like DEI, as well as environmental, social and governance issues.
Zuckerberg says that Biden officials would routinely "scream" at his people and "curse" at them, demanding they take down memes he didn't like.
When he refused to take down some memes and posts, Biden began investigating his companies for anti-trust violations and the like.
Right now the entire media is pushing the idea that Zuckerberg is acting due to (perceived future) pressure from Trump -- but they've denied for years that he previously censored people due to Biden.
Despite Zuckerberg himself saying that he was coerced by Biden.
And lookie here:
But I was told by a ten thousand know-nothing leftwing propagandists that DEI makes corporations more profitable!!! How can this be?!>