Hundreds of US companies have removed references to “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) from their annual reports in a rapid pullback from the corporate values that have become a target of US President Donald Trump’s administration.
More than 200 of America’s largest corporate groups have culled mentions of DEI and related terms such as “diversity”, according to FactSet data and company filings analysed by the Financial Times.
Of the top 400 companies in the S&P 500 index, 90 per cent of those that have filed an annual report since Trump’s election have cut at least some references to DEI, with many ditching the term entirely.
The figures, which relate only to annual reports covering companies’ financial years that ended since the election, underscore the speed and scale of the impact of Trump’s crusade against what he has described as “illegal and immoral discrimination programmes”.
In addition, many companies no longer include statistics breaking down their workforce by race or have dropped references to awards for DEI initiatives or internal affinity groups, such as networks for Black professionals.
Separate data from recruitment website Indeed shows that US job postings with DEI-related titles have halved since their mid-2022 peak, while some companies have scrapped diversity programmes.
The number of firms that have opted not to refer to DEI, or its individual components such as diversity, in their latest annual reports far outstrips those that have publicly announced changes to their workplace policies or values.
Mastercard, Salesforce, S&P Global, Palantir and American Express are among the companies that changed the language they used about diversity between annual filings published in 2024 and 2025.
Many companies have instead stressed “inclusion” or “belonging”, saying they want a culture where “all employees” thrive.
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Mastercard’s annual filing published in 2024 referred to ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’.
Its latest annual report, published in February 2025, does not mention DEI.
Salesforce’s annual report published last year included a section headed ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’.
In the latest edition, filed this month, the section does not refer to ‘diversity’.
In a statement Salesforce said it remained committed to its “long-standing core value of equality”. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment.
The analysis of company filings shows that the president’s attacks on DEI have prompted a widespread retreat by companies from publicly discussing their diversity and inclusion initiatives as executives rush to assess whether to cancel or modify the programmes.
Within days of taking office in January, Mr Trump signed executive orders prohibiting DEI “discrimination” in federal agencies, and requiring federal government contractors to certify that they do not operate inclusion programmes that violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
The orders did not clearly define which types of policies the administration views as illegal, leaving companies to assess how to comply. Deloitte told staff in its US government consulting division to remove gender pronouns from their email signatures, for example.
Executives view supplier diversity initiatives and programmes that are open only to specific groups, such as a women’s mentoring schemes, as carrying the highest risk, said Joelle Emerson, chief executive of Paradigm, a software and consultancy group that advises companies on culture and inclusion.
Trump also directed federal agencies to identify “potential civil compliance investigations” into publicly traded companies and other organisations as part of a plan to deter DEI programmes that constitute “illegal discrimination or preferences”.
Emerson said this had created a “chilling effect” across corporate America, with companies spending so much time trying to interpret the government’s plans “that they’ve stopped doing things that are in their own best interest and that are perfectly lawful out of fear”.
Luke Hartig, president of consultancy Gravity Research, which advises firms on reputational concerns, said that the threat of investigations into DEI initiatives was causing executives “serious anxiety” and was their “number one ‘up at night’ concern”.
Even before Mr Trump was elected, at least 20 companies on the S&P 500 had already removed some DEI-related terms in annual filings published between 2021 and 2024, according to FT analysis.
In its most recent annual filing, published last month, Meta included a section headed: “The Strength of Our Workforce and People Processes”. Previous annual reports had used different headings such as “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” or “Diverse and Inclusive Workplace”.
Rightwing campaigners have pressured companies to halt diversity programmes, with Walmart and Harley-Davidson targeted by activists last year.
Progressives have also criticised some DEI initiatives for superficially promoting diversity without substantially improving equality or representation of disadvantaged groups.
But proponents say the programmes help to improve opportunities and career progression for historically under-represented groups while boosting business performance.
While many companies have been culling references to DEI, some have added language to stress merit-based hiring. These include Morgan Stanley, whose most recent annual filing, published last month, says: “Meritocracy is at the heart of Morgan Stanley’s talent development.”
Some companies have continued to pursue diversity and equity initiatives despite opposition, such as Costco, whose shareholders recently voted overwhelmingly to continue the company’s policies.
Chuck Robbins, chief executive of telecommunications group Cisco and chair of the influential Business Roundtable of US corporate leaders, also made a staunch defence of his company’s DEI initiatives in January, although the group dropped a reference to “diversity” in its latest quarterly filing in February.
“You cannot argue with the fact that a diverse workforce is better,” he told Axios in January. “There’s too much business value.” - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
