Trump’s DE&I withdrawal may soon ripple throughout workforce ecosystem
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Trump’s DE&I withdrawal may soon ripple throughout workforce ecosystem

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The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday issued a memo directing US agencies to place all employees of DE&I offices on paid leave and take down all outward facing media — websites, social media accounts, etc. — of such offices by 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 22.
The memo, which followed an earlier executive order to end federal diversity programs, could soon start to ripple throughout the workforce ecosystem.
“The extent of the new administration’s new executive order regarding DE&I is likely going to be very disruptive to the entire staffing industry from supplying contingent workers to large consumers of contingent workers,” according to Tim Szuhaj, legal research analyst at SIA. For one, if a company has a contract with the federal government to provide goods and services that have a DE&I-related component, such as diverse workers or diversity training, that contract is likely to be cancelled.
The memo, first reported on by CBS News, was sent by Charles Ezell, acting director, US Office of Personnel Management, to all heads and acting heads of departments and agencies.
It orders agencies to cancel DE&I-related training and terminate DE&I-related contractors. Federal workers were also told to report to the Office of Personnel Management within 10 days if they are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description made since the day of the presidential election to obscure the connection between the contract and DE&I or similar ideologies or suspect any DE&I-related program has been renamed to obfuscate its purpose — or face “adverse consequences.”
“This may well affect any recruitment and staffing contracts which have been tasked with finding candidates based on a DE&I policy approach,” said Fiona Coombe, director of legal and regulatory research at Staffing Industry Analysts.
It’s too soon to say if the contracts will be cancelled outright, Coombe said.
The memo follows President Trump’s executive order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.”
“These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” according to the memo.
In corporate America, companies such as Meta, McDonald’s and Walmart have either reduced their DE&I programs or halted them altogether. Chad Douglas, founding partner at Primary Talent Partners, views firms’ cutbacks overall as an excuse for poor performance at their programs and an “opportunity to bail on a failed program.” He did not address specific companies’ programs.
He also believes DE&I leaders put in place at organizations following the George Floyd killing and Black Lives Matter movement were not provided the influence to fully develop successful programs.
“I think they’re looking at the political climate as an easy opportunity to disengage from failed performative actions, Douglas said. “I think it’s a 100% cop-out.”
That said, he believes contingent workforce leaders with passion for the concept will always strive to implement certain DE&I measures in their programs.
“But I think it was always like that,” he adds. “I believe you had to find individuals that cared. And I don’t think that’s going to change — I think that’ll remain the same.”