Accenture has scrapped its global diversity and inclusion goals after evaluating the changing U.S. political landscape, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Friday.
The memo from CEO Julie Sweet states that the company will start “sunsetting” the diversity goals it set in 2017, along with career development programs for “people of specific demographic groups.”
Big tech companies Meta, Alphabet and Amazon are among a series of firms that scrapped their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals before and after Republican Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency.
Sweet said Accenture’s policy change followed an “evaluation of our internal policies and practices and the evolving landscape in the United States, including recent executive orders with which we must comply.”
Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has issued several executive orders to dismantle federal and private DEI programs.
Pausing DEI benchmarking surveys
Reuters further reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a note to staff on Wednesday, said the Justice Department would “investigate, eliminate, and penalize” illegal diversity programs in the private sector.
The memo said that in addition to rolling back Accenture’s DEI targets — which Sweet said would no longer be used to measure staff performance — the company will pause submitting data to external diversity benchmarking surveys.
Sweet said in the memo that it would also evaluate external partnerships on the topic “as part of refreshing our talent strategy.”
In line with goals set in 2017 and 2020, women currently comprise 48 percent of Accenture’s workforce and 30 percent of managing director roles, according to its latest annual report.
The company, which hires extensively from India, announced race and ethnicity goals for the US and the UK in 2020.
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