Accenture has reportedly scrapped its diversity, equity and inclusion goals – becoming the latest major tech company this week to walk back the policies under conservative pressure.
The global IT services company – which is based in Dublin, Ireland and hires extensively from India – will start “sunsetting” its 2017 diversity goals, according to an internal memo from CEO Julie Sweet, as reported by the Financial Times.
Accenture, which employs about 799,000 staffers worldwide, will also rollback its career development programs for “people of specific demographic groups,” according to the memo.
The DEI policies will no longer be used to measure staff performance, the memo said.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 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,” Sweet said.
Accenture’s DEI pullback came just two days after Google walked back its diversity hiring targets, citing a similar desire to comply with recent court decisions and President Trump’s executive orders.
On his first day in office, Trump took aim at the controversial DEI policies – signing an executive order that banned the programs across the federal level, and encouraging companies to implement “merit-based” guidelines.
Other tech giants, including Meta and Amazon, axed their diversity targets days before Trump’s inauguration.
Along with killing its diversity targets, Accenture will also stop submitting data to external diversity surveys, the memo said.
Conservative activists have often targeted companies’ participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, a benchmarking tool that measures company policies pertaining to LGBTQ employees.
Accenture will also evaluate external partnerships on diversity “as part of refreshing our talent strategy,” Sweet said.
In line with the company’s 2017 and 2020 diversity goals, women currently account for 48% of Accenture’s workforce and 30% of managing director roles, according to its latest annual report.
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