Google tells employees why it’s ending DEI hiring goals

Google is joining Meta, Amazon, and other big tech companies in winding down its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. In a Wednesday memo to employees that I obtained (and you can read below), Google’s head of HR, Fiona Cicconi, said there will no longer be DEI hiring targets due to the company’s status as a federal contractor and recent “court decisions and US Executive Orders on this topic.” As The Wall Street Journal notes, Google also removed a line included in previous annual SEC reports saying that it’s “committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion part of everything we do.” Google spokesperson Chloe Cooper tells The Verge the company is “committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there.” At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement back in 2020, Google publicly said it would aim to increase “leadership representation of underrepresented groups” by 30 percent — a goal it achieved in 2022. Now that ending DEI programs across America has become a top priority of the Trump administration, Google says in the employee memo that it’s “carefully evaluating” other DEI initiatives across the company that “raise risk” or “aren’t as impactful as we’d hoped.” Here’s the full text of the memo, which is presented as a Q&A with Cicconi: > With new U.S. Executive Orders, court decisions, and many companies making changes to their DEl programs in recent weeks, we sat down with Fiona Cicconi to learn how Google is thinking about this. > Can you tell us how we’re thinking about this across the company? > First, I want to be clear: we’ve always been committed to creating a workplace where we hire the best people wherever we operate, create an environment where everyone can thrive, and treat everyone fairly. That’s exactly what you can expect to see going forward. Our users come from all across the U.S. and around the world, and we serve them better when our employees do, too. > Every year, we review the programs designed to help us get there and make changes. And because we are a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes to our programs required to comply with recent court decisions and U.S. Executive Orders on this topic. For example, in 2020, we set aspirational hiring goals and focused on growing our offices outside California and New York to improve representation. We’ll continue to invest in states across the U.S. — and in many countries globally — but in the future we will no longer have aspirational goals. > You mentioned we’ll evaluate our programs. Can you share more about that? > Melonie Parker and her team will lead on closely and carefully evaluating programs, trainings, and initiatives, and will update them as needed — including those that raise risk, or that aren’t as impactful as we’d hoped. She’ll work with senior leaders across the company. > And is there anything else you want Googlers to know now? > While there will be changes, our central Employee Resource Groups will remain, as will our work with colleges and universities, and our work to build products to help all our users and partners. That is all vital work for our business and our Googler community. Do you work at Google? I’d love to chat. You can ping me securely on Signal via the user name @alexheath.96