Silicon Valley Tech Giants Slash Diversity Efforts

With the presidential election just 100 days away and the Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action, Silicon Valley tech giants are rolling out diversity programs and practices aimed at supporting people of color.

Bay Area companies like Google, Meta and Zoom have reportedly laid off employees focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies. Cost-cutting measures and growing criticism from conservative commentators, including former President Donald Trump, have also made it harder to expand such policies just a few years after DEI became a top priority for companies focused on improving the culture of their workforces.

“There are companies on both sides of the fence, and then there are those who don’t know which side of the fence to be on, so they’re just waiting. November will be very telling,” DEI consultant and Elevate Diversity founder Rhonda Moret told San José Spotlight.

An executive order issued by Trump toward the end of his presidency prohibited federal contractors, subcontractors, and grantees from offering certain DEI training, calling it “malign ideology.”

“Depending on who gets elected to office, we could see some changes (to DEI) in one direction or the other. I understand why some organizations are just waiting to see what happens with the elections,” Moret said.

Silicon Valley companies created DEI programs in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the subsequent racial reckoning.

San Jose-based Zoom admitted in its 2024 report that 0% of its leadership team is black, despite initiatives it has taken.

As The Washington Post reports, the company laid off its internal DEI team amid mass layoffs earlier this year, and Meta has cut its own team headcount by at least 50%. Meta’s most recent report, published in 2022, found that just 2.4% of its tech workers were Black, while 4.8% were Latinx.

Meta representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Documents reviewed by San José Spotlight show that Zoom Chief Operating Officer Aparna Bawa told employees last month that the company recognizes it needs to change its approach to DEI and plans to hire DEI-focused firms to inform future actions.

“Zoom is committed to DEI and is committed to ensuring that its principles remain firmly embedded in our DNA throughout our company. We continue to work with leading external experts to help inform our DEI programs and ensure we are using best practices,” a Zoom spokesperson told San José Spotlight.

Google reported last year that 5.6% of its employees are Black, while 6.9% are Latinx. Google’s data on LGBTQ+ employees also showed that 7% of its workforce identifies as Black, while less than 1% identifies as non-binary. CNBC recently reported that Google has eliminated internal teams and programs designed to help underrepresented talent, sparking outrage among interns.

“To be clear, our commitment to DEI has not changed and we are investing in a range of programs and partnerships,” a Google spokesperson told San José Spotlight.

Google recently committed more than $5 million to historically black colleges and universities to help them create better access to the tech industry for underrepresented talent. It also launched the Google for Startups Women Founders Fund to help female entrepreneurs.

From up to down

Amid budget cuts in Silicon Valley, retired San Jose State University sociology professor Scott Myers-Lipton said programs aimed at empowering women and workers of color should be maintained.

The 2023 VC Human Capital Survey conducted by Deloitte, the National Venture Capital Association, and Venture Forward found that Black employees made up only about 5% of venture capital firm employees—a slight increase from about 4% in 2020.

“A lot of the venture capital positions are the pinnacle of high tech, so people can’t create wealth that way, and then they’re denied access to the middle and senior management positions in those companies, so they can’t get those stock options,” Myers-Lipton told San José Spotlight. “So people are denied access in every way.”

The 2024 Silicon Valley Issues Index, which highlights inequality in the region, found that black tech workers aged 25 to 44 make up 1% of the industry’s workforce, while Latinos of the same age make up 4%.

Reports like the Silicon Valley Pain Index rely on voluntary reporting by tech companies. Without a legal mandate requiring companies to report all progress on DEI or diversity hiring goals, the public may be unaware of the lack of diversity in tech.

“They won’t say they discriminate based on race, but there are conditions and practices that discourage and prevent everyone from advancing into leadership positions,” Myers-Lipton said.

Diversity initiatives have been practiced and studied since the 1960s, when the United States passed the first laws regarding affirmative action in schools and equal treatment for all in the workplace. These philosophies have evolved over the decades into what we now know as DEI.

“We’ve gone from managing diversity to valuing diversity,” SJSU business professor and DEI expert Monica Gavino told San José Spotlight. “You create these great workplaces where everyone thrives, where people want to work and stay. So you don’t lose your best talent and you become a magnet for employees.”

Silicon Valley Joint Venture President and CEO Russell Hancock said that regardless of what happens in November, tech companies will have to balance the need to hire quickly with the time it takes to ensure a diverse workforce.

“It’s not easy, there’s nothing easy about it,” he said. “Our companies are under intense pressure to compete for the best talent. They need that talent yesterday, and sometimes they can’t go through the long processes and put in the extra time.”