DEI Chatter Plummets Among Previously Vocal Corporate Advocates

Companies that touted their DEI programs in the first part of this decade have largely gone dark on the issue—at least publicly.

In the first few years of the 2020s, companies used earnings calls, annual reports, proxy filings, and ESG reports to broadcast their stance on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), a term that shot into the mainstream after 2020’s mass protests over George Floyd’s death.

In 2020 and 2021 alone,Comcast Corp. pledged $100 million to fight racial injustice and other forms of discrimination. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. set targets for diversity in top leadership, and Mastercard Inc. became one of many companies to tie executive compensation to environmental, social, and governance metrics.

But when President Donald Trump took office for the second time, he endorsed pushback to the corporate world’s DEI focus that had been building among conservatives for years. His January pledge to investigate the private sector for “illegal DEI” preceded abrupt slashes to diversity chatter at companies like Target Corp.

But Target wasn’t the only one either rolling back DEI or downplaying ongoing efforts. The use of the “DEI” acronym has dropped 68% year-over-year in S&P 100 companies, according to a recent report from business think tank The Conference Board.

Here’s an update on what five companies are saying, or not saying, this year.

Comcast

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts affirmed the company’s views on equal opportunity and inclusion at a shareholder meeting in June. The move came just four months after the Federal Communications Commission informed Roberts that it had launched an investigation into the media company’s diversity practices.

Somewhere between April and May, Comcast’s website started listing its former chief diversity officer’s title as “chief impact and inclusion officer,” according to web page archives.

Comcast listed diversity and inclusion among factors influencing executive bonuses from 2019 to 2023. But starting in 2024 filings, proxy statements instead referenced “stakeholder and sustainability initiatives” in sections about annual bonus metrics.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Hilton

In the early 2020s, the hospitality giant touted its team member resource groups, supplier diversity program, and a goal to achieve among top leadership 25% ethnic representation in the US and gender parity globally by 2027.

The company’s stakeholder engagement policy statement, last updated in June, still mentions resource groups and supplier diversity, but references to the other targets have been missing from filings since 2024. DEI-related references in general decreased dramatically this year across Hilton’s corporate filings.

Hilton’s website still references an “inclusive workforce” but a reference to its Europe, Middle East, & Africa Ethnic Team Member Resource Group was removed.

The company also changed a board committee name from “Nominating & ESG” —references which appeared in October filings—to “Nominating & Corporate Governance.”

Direct references to “diversity” were also scrapped from the company’s US “culture” webpage.

“Hilton’s business is diverse by definition—it’s what makes hospitality unique and special,” company spokesperson Mina Radman said in an emailed statement. “Building a workplace culture for all where every Team Member can thrive remains a business imperative.”

Mastercard

Mastercard announced in 2021 that it would base part of senior executives’ pay on ESG metrics to deepen a “culture of inclusion.” Corporate filings from this year, however, revealed the program would end sometime this year, handing a victory to conservatives who had petitioned the company to scrap the initiative.

“This change reflects the significant progress that has been made since 2021 in the areas of greenhouse gas emissions, financial inclusion and gender pay parity,” the company’s most recent proxy statement said of its decision to nix the program.

The payment services company also rebranded its most recent annual ESG report as an “impact” report and removed a couple dozen references to diversity.

The company has retained its years-long chief inclusion officer, Randall Tucker, though he’s now listed with a new title: chief community & belonging officer.

“Mastercard is a long-standing supporter of the many communities around the world that our employees are part of, including the LGBTQIA+ community,” company spokesperson Seth Eisen said in an email. “This year, we continued that commitment by proudly participating in the NYC Pride March—among others across the globe—and related events.”

Costco

Costco generated buzz earlier this year when board members defended the company against an anti-DEI shareholder proposal. The wholesaler also said it would link executive bonuses to environmental and social objectives for its 2025 fiscal year.

The company’s website still features a supplier inclusion program brochure, but explicit references to “diverse” suppliers, as well as women- and minority-owned suppliers, were removed.

Costco’s chief diversity officer’s title has remained untouched since she stepped into the role in 2022, according to LinkedIn.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Jones Lang LaSalle

JLL appointed a new global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2022—but based on the company’s website, her title changed to “global head of culture and employee experience” sometime after spring 2024, when the reference last appeared in filings.

The real estate firm’s sustainability program still references the same three pillars—climate action, inclusive places, and healthy spaces—but the company this year stopped disclosing its workforce’s racial breakdown in its sustainability report and scrapped references to DEI from its proxy statement. JLL still reports gender breakdowns for its top leadership and board, with women in top leadership increasing three points year-over-year in 2024, according to the most recent figures.

References to and data for its supplier diversity program were also missing from this year’s filings, aside from a reference to “non-US supplier diversity,” which in May replaced “supplier diversity” in the company’s responsible sourcing policy document, according to web archives. Its website also differs country to country: the UK website still references “diversity, equality, and inclusion,” while the US website doesn’t.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.