President Trump removed two Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) leaders on Jan. 27, a move that one of the dismissed commissioners believes will influence who the organization chooses to protect from workplace discrimination moving forward.

The latest. Joceyln Samuels and Charlotte Burrows have been ousted as EEOC commissioners, in one of the White House’s latest efforts to rid federal agencies of DE&I. Both worked for the EEOC during the first Trump administration, NPR reported. Due to their dismissals, the commission, which needs at least three commissioners to operate, cannot currently create new policies or adequately work with employers to ensure they’re compliant with the law.

Samuels has worked in civil rights for decades and, after being nominated by Trump in 2020, had a bipartisan confirmation. She was supposed to serve in her role as one of the EEOC’s five commissioners until July 2026, until her term was cut short, potentially unlawfully.

How the EEOC could change. “There has been a change in the nature of understanding of the law and appropriate policy,” Samuels said, noting that the changes happening at the EEOC could negatively impact employers and vulnerable workers as the agency moves more to the right.

Keep reading here.—KP

Some of the executive orders issued during the first week of the Trump administration directly called into question diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives.

“My administration has taken action to abolish all discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense,” President Trump said in an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. “These are policies that were absolute nonsense throughout the government and the private sector,” he added.

While Trump has so far signed four executive orders directly targeting DE&I initiatives in the public and private sectors, HR Brew previously reported, Anuradha Hebbar, president of CEO Action for Inclusion & Diversity at SHRM, the largest association of HR professionals, told HR Brew, “We don't know what he has actually in plan, and that he wants to completely abolish DE&I in the federal government. His intent is not clear.”

Regardless of Trump’s priorities, Hebbar said that SHRM is still committed to DE&I. “There’s no question that diversity and inclusion are great for business, and our job is to really ensure companies and CEOs and all stakeholders continue to do this work and avoid legal risk, protecting their employees and making better worlds and workplaces,” she explained.

Keep reading here.—KP

Consulting company Bain & Co. topped Glassdoor’s 2025 list of the best large workplaces in the US for the second year in a row, while the number of tech companies dropped for the third consecutive year.

Bain’s professional development opportunities played a significant role in the company’s position at the head of the list, said Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s lead economist. The lack of such opportunities pushed tech organizations off the list, he added.

With 26 companies on the list, tech is still the most represented industry. However, 31 tech companies populated the list in 2024, and 41 made the cut in 2023.

There have been layoffs in the tech industry, which has caused it to lose some of its previous luster. “As hiring has slowed down, opportunities for internal and external mobility have declined,” Zhao said. “There are a lot of workers who feel disengaged because they don’t see those opportunities for growth.” Zhao said the opportunity for career advancement is the most critical factor in driving worker satisfaction.

Keep reading here.—TA