DEI: trying to make sense of current negative press
The negative stance taken towards DEI in the United States is currently headline news with President Trump’s actions to dismantle and remove all US government staffing dedicated to DEI initiatives.
14 February 2025
The latest issue of Think Global People magazine is out now!
It is notable that in the US, through the favoured use of the acronym DEI, that the focus has been to place diversity first. While it is impossible to get beneath the rationale for Trump’s decision-making, potentially a focus on statistical diversity may have been one of the drivers. And, as such, DEI has been blamed for staffing inadequacies, such as those suggested in the US air traffic control.The pursuit of diversity statistics - or indeed of fulfilling statistical quotas - is unlikely to bring about the employment of the best people. Statistics alone are a means to an end. Hence, the focus should be on inclusion and equitable treatment. However, inclusion is not easy to achieve. Listening to - and engaging - all members of the workforce takes time and can bring about conflict. However, while negative conflict is destructive, positive conflict is constructive.
Read related articles
- Equity, diversity and inclusion: terminology and implications
- The value of reward equity in international assignment compensation
- International careers: are women assignees losing trust in EDI policy and practice?
Dealing with conflict can be difficult and resolving it can be messy. Nonetheless, positive results can flow from it. It takes time and effort to include everyone but with wider-ranging solutions to problem-solving and greater buy-in to those solutions from across the workforce, business outcomes do tend to be more positive.Hence, despite the current negative press on DEI, it is important to maintain a focus on inclusion and upon equitable treatment of diverse personnel in the workplace.
Find out more about the Think Global People and Think Women community and events.
Subscribe to Relocate Extra, our monthly newsletter, to get all the latest international assignments and global mobility news.Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.
©2025 Re:locate magazine, published by Profile Locations, Spray Hill, Hastings Road, Lamberhurst, Kent TN3 8JB. All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of Profile Locations. Profile Locations accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.
