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Was the commitment to DEI of Corporate America, and particularly of the tech giants, really this shallow, that they would all reverse course completely and suddenly and in unison and without a peep of objection?
The truth is that these companies are all breathing a huge sigh of relief at having finally been let off the DEI hook. Their DEI promises were always a ludicrous fantasy. And they were all quickly running into an impossible situation where the promises they had made could not be continued.
Meanwhile DEI had become an increasingly militant and desperate racial spoils regime. As further progress toward its goals became less and less possible, maintaining the regime inevitably required ever more enforced agreement and silencing of dissent. The end of this mess is something we should all welcome. And I do welcome its end, which I certainly hope is permanent.
But I can’t just let the whole thing go as if it had never happened. We have all been subjected to a decade and more of insufferable moral preening from these people claiming to be our betters. Before moving on, it is appropriate to remind ourselves — and them — of some of the endless sanctimony, and of the hypocrisy that it covered.
I previously had two posts — this one in June 2020, and this one in September 2021 — reporting on the DEI promises of the big tech firms. The 2020 post provided some of the history:
[I]n the Spring of 2014, Jesse Jackson made the rounds of the annual meetings of many of the [big tech] companies; and suddenly the dominoes all quickly fell. Essentially all of these companies began releasing annual “diversity reports” starting in mid-2014.
And thus, starting in 2014, we have annual versions of these “diversity reports” for each of the tech giants. For today, let’s focus on Facebook and Google.
Facebook’s initial Report in 2014, “Building a More Diverse Facebook,” was not a long document, just a few pages. But it began with the obligatory moral sanctimony:
At Facebook, diversity is essential to achieving our mission. We build products to connect the world, and this means we need a team that understands and reflects many different communities, backgrounds and cultures. Research also shows that diverse teams are better at solving complex problems and enjoy more dynamic workplaces. So at Facebook we’re serious about building a workplace that reflects a broad range of experience, thought, geography, age, background, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture and many other characteristics.
So OK, what was the percentage of blacks in the tech portion of the workforce? From a chart toward the end of the document, the figure is (drumroll!!!) 1%.
Fast forward seven years to 2021. Here is now the eighth version of Facebook’s Report. The sanctimony of course continues. Example:
Connecting the world takes people with different backgrounds and points of view to build products that work better for everyone. This means building a workforce that reflects the diversity of the people we serve.
And the percent of black workers in tech? Again, you will need to go to a chart at the end of the document. The answer is: 2.1%.
The 2022 version of the Facebook diversity Report seems to be suddenly reduced in size. Might that indicate that something is going on? Looking through the charts at the end, we find that the percent of black workers in the tech area is now up to all of 2.4%.
In 2023, as you may recall, Facebook underwent a first-time downsizing. According to StockAnalysis.com, total employment at Meta Platforms, Inc. went from 86,482 on December 31, 2022 to 67,317 on December 31, 2023. If this was like all other corporate downsizings, they obviously looked to eliminate first the unproductive employees and make-work jobs.
And suddenly, I can’t find any more annual diversity reports for Facebook for 2023 and 2024! If any reader can find them, kindly provide a link. Although Facebook only formally announced the end to its DEI regime in January 2025, it could well be that they had quietly and surreptitiously begun burying it a couple of years ago. Perhaps you are now starting to understand why Mark Zuckerberg was so quick to join President Trump in calling an end to the DEI regime.
Over at Google, they at least continued the diversity reports, and in the same format, through 2024 (although I would not expect to see another for 2025). There is plenty of swearing allegiance and loyalty to the woke DEI project. As a random example, this is from the intro to the 2020 Report:
Google has made progress in several areas of hiring and retaining talented professionals from underrepresented groups. We also continued our work to understand the identities, intersectionalities, and experiences of Googlers worldwide. More broadly, we made a wide array of investments to strengthen the diverse communities both within and outside Google. Looking forward, we will continue to use data-informed efforts to support diversity, equity and inclusion as we grow and scale . . . .
Google’s 2024 Report helpfully includes charts that track changes in the data by year since the initial Report in 2014. To find how the percent of black workers in tech jobs has changed over the years, you will need to go to a chart deeply buried on page 78 of the document. The answer is that that percent has gone from 1.5% in 2014 to 4.2% in 2024.
Back in my September 2021 post linked above, I referred to my own efforts over many years at a large law firm to help recruit, hire and retain increasing numbers of blacks and other minorities. My comment was that this was a “difficult, long-term and often frustrating process.” Google, Facebook and their brethren thought they were a lot smarter and better than the rest of us. Well, welcome to the real world.
By Rich Kozlovich
