Meta Annual Report Says DEI Disbanding Intends to ‘Reduce Bias’

Meta’s changes to its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs aim to “reduce bias,” the company said in its annual report published Thursday morning.

In early January, the company formerly known as Facebook told its employees in an internal memo that it would disband its entire DEI team and reassign them to other departments, while also dropping an internal requirement to interview prospective employees from underrepresented backgrounds for open roles, or look to do business with diverse suppliers.

The company’s statements reflect the “shifting legal and policy landscape,” it said in its annual 10-K filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Meta’s statements come amid a sea change of perspectives on DEI with the election and inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has taken direct aim at discouraging private businesses from keeping and implementing DEI initiatives.

That executive order, issued in the first days of Trump’s presidency, has set off a scramble in corporate America to parse what DEI programs would be allowed by private companies—or at all.

While the company also said it was reducing bias in 2024 in its hiring processes, it added “people processes” to its current filing. In both filings, it said it was “committed” to a “skilled, inclusive, and diverse” workforce, but added a commitment to diverse “political views” in its hiring objective this year.

A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.