Trump presidency sparks concerns over future of diversity culture at UK firms
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Concerns are growing over the future of diversity and inclusion culture at UK companies after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. Since being sworn in on Monday, Mr Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders to dismantle his predecessor Joe Biden’s legacy, including dialling back transgender protections and ending federal government diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.
More widely, Mr Trump’s election victory has accelerated corporate America’s return to more conservative stances, with executives axing DEI departments, watering down language that could be seen as “woke” and pulling out of climate groups. In the UK, companies must comply with the country’s equality laws while the Labour Government plans to strengthen DEI protections, including introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.
US firms winding down their dedicated DEI initiatives and teams – such as Meta, Amazon and McDonald’s – also say they are maintaining their general commitment to inclusivity, and it remains unclear exactly how these changes will affect their UK operations.
But British business groups and experts say the culture shift in the US could cascade into offices across the Atlantic. Recent research from headhunter Spencer Stuart found that efforts to diversify UK boardrooms had already been losing momentum last year, with a significant drop in ethnic minority appointments and women still struggling to secure top leadership roles.
Michelle Ovens, founder of Small Business Britain, said: “Any shift to dial back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at a US level could have a significant negative cultural impact on businesses large and small across the world – undoubtedly having a knock-on impact in the UK.
