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Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t kidding when he said, “move fast and break things,” and it appears that this January, the company he founded is breaking its own things.
After a tumultuous week, during which Meta upended its fact-checking system and loosened its content moderation policies, angering some employees, the company is breaking its DE&I initiatives.
What’s changing? In a Jan. 10 memo, Janelle Gale, Meta’s VP of HR, told employees that the company would be dissolving its DE&I department, and ending several related initiatives, Axios reported. The company did not say if the department’s employees will be let go or moved into new roles, but Maxine Williams, who previously served as Meta’s chief diversity officer, has transitioned to a role in accessibility and engagement. While Williams has a nearly 20-year career in DE&I, it’s unclear if she has a background in accessibility.
Meta will also no longer use its diverse slate approach, which it introduced in 2015 and aimed to help hiring managers “consider candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.” The memo said that its slate approach was “subject to public debate” and they “believe” better hiring approaches can be built, though it’s unclear what those might entail.
Equity and inclusion training will reportedly end, and employees were told that training will instead focus on “fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all,” though the memo was unclear about what that will look like.
While the company previously ended representation goals, Gale reiterated that messaging.
She pointed out that employee resource groups will remain intact and open to all employees, although it’s unclear if those groups were consulted or made aware of the changes before the announcement.
Why now? The memo cited the 2022 Supreme Court decision on affirmative action as a driver of the latest decisions. However, the changes were announced shortly after CEO Mark Zuckerberg added Dana White, head of the UFC and a supporter of President-elect Trump, to the company’s board of directors. Meta also hired Joel Kaplan, a Republican lobbyist and George W. Bush’s former chief of staff, as its new global policy chief.
Meta also cited the politicization of DE&I—largely driven by conservatives including Elon Musk and Trump—as a reason for ending some of its initiatives. “The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” the memo read.
Meta did not answer questions from HR Brew, but confirmed Axios’ initial reporting.