Next to layoffs, talk of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on the cutting room floor has dominated HR discourse. Following the 2020 police murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd and police killing of Breonna Taylor, companies jumped to attention and started championing the Black Lives Matter movement. Many Black activists were skeptical of performative allyship, but corporate America kept 2020’s energy alive in 2021.
Then came 2022.
While some reports said employers were narrowing the gap between DEI intention and action, death knells tolled by the year’s end. Published in November 2022, research from Glassdoor indicated that corporate investment in diverse hiring initiatives, pay equity audits and employee resource groups ticked up between 2019 and 2021 — only to fall slightly in 2022.
