Google is eliminating its minority hiring goals that were created following the death of George Floyd in 2020 and will review its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, the tech company announced on Wednesday, to comply with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on DEI in the public and private sectors.
In an email to employees, Google said it will no longer set hiring targets to improve representation within the organization. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who is of Indian descent, set a diversity hiring target to increase the proportion of “leadership representation of underrepresented groups” to 30 percent by 2025. Google fell short of that goal.
In its 2024 diversity report, 5.7 percent of its employees based in the U.S. were black and 7.5 percent were Latino. Each was up by about two percentage points, compared to four years earlier.
The move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes in response to Trump’s executive order that ends race- and sex-based hiring for federal contractors, including Google, and “encourages” private companies to do the same. Otherwise, they could face punishment from the new administration.
“We’re committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there,” Google said in a statement to news outlets.
Google’s retreat from DEI was further demonstrated in parent company Alphabet’s annual report, which made no mention of the leftist ideology.
“We’ve updated our 10-k language to reflect this,” the search giant said, referring to the annual report. “As a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes required following recent court decisions and executive orders on this topic.”
While considering potential changes, Google said it will continue investing in diverse workforces without having a specific target to meet. The company will also maintain its resource groups for historically underrepresented employees.
“Google has always been committed to creating a workplace where we hire the best people wherever we operate, create an environment where everyone can thrive, and treat everyone fairly,” the internal email to employees states. “That’s exactly what you can expect to see going forward.”
Conservative anti-DEI advocates welcomed the news.
“Race-based hiring quotas are immoral and un-American, and we applaud Google for its decision to end them,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, said in a statement obtained by National Review.
“Skilled American workers should never be barred from jobs because of the color of their skin,” Hild added. “As the wall of DEI discrimination continues to crumble nationwide, this announcement is yet another example of President Trump bringing back a culture of competence to America.”
Some tech companies in Silicon Valley, such as Meta and Amazon, have similarly scaled back their DEI initiatives as Trump prepared to enter office.
Others, however, remain opposed to changing. Last month, Apple’s board of directors asked shareholders to reject an anti-DEI proposal that would require the tech company to consider the litigation, reputational and financial risks in standing by its diversity programs. Shareholders will vote on the proposal on February 25.