Tech workers union Prospect is calling for a review of the diversity policies of US multinationals operating in the UK.
It has written to Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, urging it to examine fears that some American businesses are using US policy changes to undermine their UK obligations.
The letter stated: “Prospect represents thousands of UK tech workers, including in companies like Meta, and we have been alarmed to see the way in which these companies have acted since Donald Trump’s inauguration as President. Not only have the CEOs of many tech companies publicly endorsed some of the President’s rhetoric on rolling back on equalities practices, many have now begun to put this new policy into effect in their own workforces.”
Highlighting that members working in tech are extremely worried about this “change in direction”, the union expressed concerns about how diversity in the sector will be affected by these changes, as well as others.
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The letter added: “We are extremely worried that new job-cutting programmes may be aimed at those with protected characteristics, and the scrapping of fact-checking processes could result in workers being exposed to even more extreme and harmful content.”
Prospect is now calling for the committee to explore this issue and question tech executives about these plans, as well as the alleged lack of consultation along their workforces and how they intend “to comply with UK employment law and expectations on equality, diversity, and inclusion in the future”. It added that it is prepared to give evidence to the committee on this issue.
Rachel Curley, deputy general secretary of Prospect, said: “We are concerned that the rollback of diversity, equality and inclusion policies in large US-based global tech companies will have a direct impact on UK workers where the legal framework is substantially different.
“We are asking the Women and Equalities Committee to look into these issues and to question tech company executives to ensure their practices in the UK align with our values and regulations.”
In recent months, several US businesses have scaled back their diversity initiatives, including Google, Meta and Amazon.
Last week, Goldman Sachs scrapped an internal diversity rule that banned the bank from advising all-male and all-white boards on company flotations.
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