At least one big tech firm is doing away with an extremely woke policy it put into place a few years ago.
According to Business Insider, which obtained an email that Microsoft officials sent on July 1, the company has laid off an entire team that was created to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
Microsoft poured millions of dollars into this so-called DEI initiative, but decided it was in the best interests of the company moving forward to ditch it altogether.
According to the email, the decision was made because of “changing business needs.”
It’s not certain how many employees were affected by this decision.
In the wake of the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis in 2020 — and the many protest campaigns led by the Black Lives Matter group afterward — companies, groups and organizations across the country started up new initiatives based on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion.
Those DEI initiatives cost many companies a significant investment, but they don’t seem to be very long-lasting.
Last year, both Meta and Google decided to reduce the scope of the DEI programs they began. CNBC reported at the time that both companies cut a significant number of staff members as part of layoffs and restructuring efforts.
Earlier this week, John Deere said it would be doing away with almost all of its DEO policies, turning instead to a workplace based on quality. In June, Tractor Supply announced that it would be axing all DEI positions and goals that it had set up.
DEI teams at other major companies including Wayfair, Home Depot, Lyft, DoorDash, Snap, Tesla and Zoom have all been downsized recently as well.
A recent Yahoo News report outlined that job postings related to DEI dropped by 44% by the middle of 2023, compared to the same period the year before.
Microsoft originally pledged a $150 million investment into DEI initiatives, which included doubling how many Hispanic and black leaders it hired by 2025.
Jeff Jones, a spokesperson for Microsoft, spoke to The Washington Post recently, saying:
“As we move forward, our D&I commitments remain unchanged. Our focus on diversity and inclusion is unwavering and we are holding firm on our expectations, prioritizing accountability, and continuing to focus on this work.”
Despite this, one unnamed team leader of a DEI team at Microsoft lashed out at the company for its decision.
The same day that the company sent its email, this employee fired off a major response, Business Insider reported.
He lamented that “true systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020.”
According to Microsoft, the company employs 221,000 people across the world. Women comprise 31.2% of Microsoft’s total workforce, which represents an increase of 3.6% since 2019.
In addition, 6.7% of its workforce is made up of black employees, which represents a 2.2% increase from 2019. Hispanic employees make up 8% of the total workforce at the big tech company.