The tech workers’ union Prospect has called for a review on the diversity policies adopted by US multinationals in the UK.
It wrote to Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee to urge it to investigate fears that certain American businesses use US policy changes in order to undermine UK obligations.
In the letter, it was stated that: “Prospect represents thousands UK tech workers in companies such as Meta and we are alarmed at how these companies have behaved since Donald Trump became President.” Many tech CEOs have publicly endorsed the President’s rhetoric about rolling back equalities practices. However, they have also begun to implement this policy in their own workplaces.
The union, which highlighted that tech workers are very concerned about this “change of direction”, expressed concern about the way diversity in the sector would be affected by the changes.
The letter continued: “We are very concerned that new job-cutting programs may be targeted at those with protected qualities, and the scrapping fact-checking procedures could result in employees being exposed to more extreme and damaging content.”
Prospect has now called on the committee to investigate this issue, questioning tech executives about their plans and the alleged lack consultation with their employees, as well how they plan “to comply in the future with UK employment laws and expectations regarding equality, diversity and inclusion”. It also said that it was willing to provide evidence to the committee regarding this issue.
Rachel Curley is the deputy general secretary at Prospect. She said, “We are worried that the rollback in diversity, equality, and inclusion policies by large US-based tech companies, will have an impact directly on UK workers, where the legal environment is significantly different.
We are asking the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) to investigate these issues and question executives of tech companies to ensure that their practices in the UK comply with our values and regulation.
Recently, several US companies have reduced their diversity initiatives. These include Google Meta and Amazon.
Goldman Sachs canceled an internal diversity rule last week. The rule prohibited the bank from providing advice to all-male or all-white boards for company flotations.
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