Accenture reportedly has abolished its diversity, equity and inclusive goals. This week it became the latest major tech company to bring policy back under conservative pressure.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, the global IT services company employs extensively from India, will begin to “sunset” its diversity goals for 2017, according to an internal memo from CEO Julie Sweet. Reported by Financial Times.
According to the memo, Accenture, which employs around 799,000 staff worldwide, will also roll back career development programs for “people from certain demographic groups.”
The DEI policy will no longer be used to measure staff performance, the memo says.
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The policy changes followed “an assessment of the evolving US landscape, including an assessment of our internal policies and practices and a recent executive order that we must follow.”
Accenture's Dei Pullback comes just two days after Google returned its diversity employment targets, citing a similar desire to comply with recent court decisions and President Trump's executive orders.
On his first day in office, Trump sought a controversial DEI policy. It signed an executive order banning programs at the federal level, encouraging businesses to implement “met-based” guidelines.
Other tech giants, including Meta and Amazon, have targeted diversity a few days before Trump took office.
In addition to killing diversity goals, Accenture will also halt data submission to external diversity studies, the memo says.
Conservative activists often target companies' participation in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a benchmark tool that measures a company's policy regarding LGBTQ employees.
Accenture also evaluates external partnerships on diversity “as part of refreshing talent strategies,” says Sweet.
In line with the company's 2017 and 2020 diversity goals, women currently account for 48% of Accenture's workforce and 30% of the role of managing director.
