Companies getting rid of DEI teams, Microsoft lays them all off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will corporate profits take a dive now that the DEI office is gone? Surely they were providing value, right?

DEI is a cost center, not a revenue generator.

[Anonymous]

I suspect this has to do with SCOTUS if these teams were focused on recruiting BIPOC. But also DEI has been very much a make it up as we go along thing since it is so new. I think it was rolled out way too quickly in many orgs and done really badly with regards to training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will corporate profits take a dive now that the DEI office is gone? Surely they were providing value, right?

I understand you are being sarcastic but, no, I don't expect the elimination of DEI departments to have any effect on profits. Were those departments ever really doing anything anyway?

Most of us understand that much of what we hear about corporate initiatives around DEI, the environment (remember ESG?), community development or that corporations are somehow "people" have always been PR-driven window dressing.
Corporations exist to create value for shareholders. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

How was a DEI office different from what HR was already required by law to do? It seemed redundant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How was a DEI office different from what HR was already required by law to do? It seemed redundant.

Well our HR office does an EEO training that is basically "don't use the N word even if you are Black. Also don't submit EEO complaints." Basically, it is to reduce EEO complaints.

Our DEI training is more about knowledge and skills building (understanding what racism is, how to promote equity in our job roles - we work in an area where it is directly relevant). But much of it is done very badly unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

DEI teams had a 4 year runway to deliver shareholder value, obviously Microsoft team didn’t meet expectation. That doesn’t mean a good DEI team isn’t delivering value elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

At University of Florida, the DEI office cost them $5mln/year:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/university-florida-eliminates-diversity-equity-inclusion-positions-due-rcna141524

I wonder what it cost at Microsoft -- maybe the lowered spending will increase profits after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we are moving to a post DEI world? My workplace in particular already has demographics that match the US, including at higher levels.

OK, they've met the D part of DEI. But is it equitable? Inclusive?

[Anonymous]

since 90 percent of IT is diverse what is point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:since 90 percent of IT is diverse what is point

They’re not inclusive because the Indians in IT are caste-ist against other Indians in the company. They need DEI, unironically

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:since 90 percent of IT is diverse what is point

They’re not inclusive because the Indians in IT are caste-ist against other Indians in the company. They need DEI, unironically

They will not hire anyone else except Indians.