Feb 5, 2025 - Technology

Google scraps minority recruitment goals, will review DEI programs

Ina Fried

Illustration of a hand erasing the letters DEI from a whiteboard shaped like a speech bubble. — Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Google said on Wednesday it is ending its goal to boost its ranks of people from historically underrepresented groups and will also review its other diversity efforts as it looks to comply with various Trump Administration rules for government contractors.

Why it matters: The move follows a similar push from rival Meta, though that company has also loosened its restrictions on hate speech and taken other moves to roll back inclusion efforts.

The big picture: Despite setting lofty goals, Google and other large tech companies remain overwhelmingly male and white, with Latinos and Blacks significantly underrepresented.

What they're saying: "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 Axios.

"We've updated our (annual report) language to reflect this, and as a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes required following recent court decisions and executive orders on this topic."
Google's move was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Between the lines: Google said it won't end its employee resource groups or its work with colleges and universities, though some other programs may change.

By the numbers: In June 2020 Google announced a goal to increase the representation in leadership of women and minorities by 2025.

According to Google's 2024 diversity report, 7.5% of U.S. staff were Latino and less than 6% are Black, the Journal reported.

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Google scraps minority recruitment goals, will review DEI programs

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