Most senior HR and C-suite professionals in the UK expect the rapid retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in the US to influence the UK workplace.
The survey of 140 UK employers conducted earlier this week by Occupational Health Assessment, found that almost 7 in 10 (69%) felt the policy shift under President Trump would affect UK businesses.
On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order to place all US government staff working on DEI on paid administrative leave, starting yesterday.
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In his inaugural address, Trump pledged to “forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based”. He also said the US government would only now recognise two genders, male and female.
Steve Herbert, brand ambassador at Occupational Health Assessment said the retreat from DEI in the US had been gathering momentum for months with many major businesses announcing the curtailment or complete rollback of elements of their previously established and promoted EDI policies.
“This process appears to have begun in the middle of 2024, and the number and scale of such announcements has increased rapidly as the presidential inauguration approached,” said Herbert.
The research found that 69% of employers thought there would be some changes made to the UK workplace as a result of the US reversal, although only 6% of respondents thought those changes would be major. Just 16% of employers thought there would be no change here in the UK, with the same number unclear as to what might happen.
The survey also found a significant divergence of opinions over whether the DEI reversal was a good or bad thing.
Nearly four in 10 respondents (37%) agreed with the rollback of at least some measures on this side of the Atlantic. This figure included 32% who feel that some aspects of DEI policies required change. A further 5% said that DEI had already gone too far in the British workplace.
However, the majority of UK employers (53%) said they continued to support equality and diversity policies. More than one-fifth (22%) said they would like to see DEI initiatives strengthened further, and 31% felt current initiatives were “about right”.
Magnus Kauders, managing director of Occupational Health Assessment said that UK firms curtailing workplace DEI initiatives may be in conflict with some aspects of the government’s ambitious Making Work Pay plans announced last year.
Amazon, Meta, Walmart, John Deere, Ford, Harley-Davidson and McDonald’s are among the big-name firms that have confirmed they are rolling back DEI programmes.
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