Bill Ackman’s manifesto is the latest high-profile attack on DEI but workplace experts say companies are resetting—not backtracking

Fresh off his victory following Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation this week, billionaire and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman set his sights on a new target: diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. 

Early Wednesday morning, Ackman published a 4,000-word manifesto on X, formerly known as Twitter, attacking DEI in higher education and the corporate world, calling it “inherently a racist and illegal movement in its implementation even if it purports to work on behalf of the so-called oppressed.”

Ackman joins a growing chorus of DEI criticism. In late December, Elon Musk lambasted those programs on X, saying they were “morally wrong” and “propaganda words for racism, sexism and other -isms.” The U.S. Supreme Court also took aim at DEI when it struck down race-based decisions in university admissions last year, with Justice Clarence Thomas calling the policy “rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in their entering classes.”

Given all the noise, it may seem like DEI programs are meeting a bitter end. On one hand, some data does suggest that companies are cutting back on their DEI initiatives. As previously reported in CHRO Daily, the percentage of companies investing in DEI programs with strategy and personnel fell to 27% in 2023, down from 33% in 2022. That number is expected to drop to 20% by the end of this year, according to an October report from research and advisory company Forrester. DEI teams were also heavily affected by layoffs in late 2022 and 2023. Early last year there was a 33% churn rate for DEI-related roles, compared to a 21% churn rate for non-DEI related roles, according to a study conducted by Revelio Labs, a workforce data company. 

But that may not tell the whole story. A survey of 400 C-suite executives and HR leaders from executive search firm Bridge Partners released this week and conducted in July and August of last year found that 73% of executives planned to expand their DEI initiatives, while only 2% planned to cut back. And 80% of those surveyed already had an established DEI program. Of the remaining leaders who didn’t have a program, 17% said they planned to implement one. 

DEI experts I spoke with say that companies aren’t necessarily investing in DEI programs like they did in 2020 and 2021, but they’re approaching initiatives with more caution. Instead of hiring siloed diversity teams with no real means to ensure progress and accountability, companies are resetting, looking to embed DEI responsibilities across teams, and hiring consultants or skilling managers to do that.

“There might be a realization that to make progress on DEI, you need core decision makers throughout the business,” says Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm, a DEI strategy firm. “This is not a separate team, sitting in a separate office that’s going to drive those outcomes. I think we’re seeing a shift from a lot of companies that just inflated these teams, back to a place that actually will end up being more impactful.”

The reduction of DEI-specific roles doesn’t suggest companies have abandoned diversity and inclusion efforts, either. Companies are “just finding different ways because of the optics,” says Trier Bryant, a corporate DEI consultant who previously held executive diversity roles at Goldman Sachs and Twitter. She noted an unnamed client that rescinded their public job posting for a head of DEI role and chose to hire a consultant instead to avoid any controversy. 

“It’s a way to do the work a little bit more under the radar and really focus on what needs to get done, and not have to address or speak to external opinions,” she added.

Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

- A U.S. labor board just ruled that Alphabet, the parent company of Google, wasn’t following the law when it refused to negotiate with a group of contract workers who voted to unionize. That means Google's likely headed to a federal court battle about whether those workers count as employees. Bloomberg

- The National Labor Relations Board is accusing SpaceX of illegally firing eight workers who were critical of CEO Elon Musk. Those employees circulated a letter that called out Musk’s social media posts, and called on SpaceX to clear up and enforce its harassment policies. New York Times

- Here are 13 ways to make your job less stressful this year. They include reestablishing your boundaries and evaluating your productivity. The Washington Post

- American companies increased hiring in December to the highest level since August, suggesting the economy remains strong despite a slightly cooler labor market overall. Bloomberg

- Check out this overview of how DEI has been fending off attacks over the past year and what to expect moving forward. Wall Street Journal

Watercooler

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