Multinationals downplay DEI achievements as a response to US policy

As the hostility toward such programs continues to grow in the US and Europe, fewer UK-owned companies will declare their commitment to DEI.

GQ Littler, a UK law firm, has carried out research on the level of concern about the future of Corporate DEI. The study found that while most US federal contractors (74%) were increasingly concerned about DEI-related litigation, enforcement actions, and shareholder proposals; only 8% said they seriously considered DEI programme change because of President Trump’s executive orders.

Natasha Adom said that she didn’t expect UK companies, due to legal risks, to reverse DEI policies aggressively. She added that “we expect that fewer UK owned global companies will make powerful and sweeping statements regarding their commitment to DEI due to how this might impact their positions in the US.”

We expect this trend to continue.

It was also possible that employees would change their behavior at work due to news reports coming from the US. Adom stated: “One concern for employers is the possibility that employees with anti-DEI opinions may be emboldened to express their views in an outspoken manner and in a manner that crosses over into discrimination due to the rollback in DEI in the US.”

According to the survey, 61% of US executives in large companies expect a decrease in DEI commitments due to Trump’s anti DEI policies and rhetoric.

The half (52%) US organisations that were looking to reduce DEI considered removing their DEI metrics and/or benchmarks. They could be perceived as quotas by federal agencies that “focus on potentially discriminatory or exclusionary practices”.

Nearly half of the US executives surveyed said that they were hesitant to commit to DEI because of fear of litigation, including discrimination lawsuits.

Adom stated: “Employers who don’t offer DEI training will find it more difficult to defend discrimination cases in the UK and the new duty for all UK employers to provide reasonable steps to prevent harassment, will almost always include anti-harassment education.”

Employers who do not track diversity metrics in the UK risk being non-compliant, as reporting laws are expected to increase. As an example, listed companies report on board diversity. Government proposals will require large companies with more than 250 employees to report gender pay gaps and ethnicity pay differences.

GQ Littler’s US survey of 700 companies found that the larger corporations are twice as likely to consider changing their DEI policy than the smaller ones.

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