Some NC companies ditching DEI and leaning toward ‘belonging’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Companies across America are ditching DEI. The rollback in diversity, equity and inclusion policies aligns with President Trump’s executive order that gives federal agencies 60 days to eliminate DEI roles and offices.

Experts say the majority of companies in North Carolina are small businesses who didn’t have a written DEI policy. Some large companies like Lowe’s rolled back DEI policies last year.

Doug Blizzard with Catapult Employment Association says seen a spike in calls from NC companies confused about how to move forward.

“The majority of the companies walking it back are walking away from the social side of this,” Blizzard said. “They’re not walking back the idea of diversity or inclusion or culture of belonging.”

Blizzard said the acronym DEI has turned into a trigger or buzz word used synonymously with “woke.”

“A lot of social issues have been tied together with DEI,” Blizzard said. “What we’re seeing employers doing is we’re using more words like ‘adaptability’, ‘a culture of belonging’, ‘inclusivity’ and kind of walking away from the standard: here’s our DEI policy.”

Since President Trump’s executive order more than a week ago. Large retailers like Target have announced an end to DEI initiatives while Costco has affirmed it’s position in the DEI space. There are civil rights laws on the books to protect against discrimination.

“The civil rights laws just say don’t discriminate,” Blizzard said. “The affirmative action laws just say, hey, try to attract more females or minorities, disabled persons and veterans, but it doesn’t require you to hire one person or the other.”

Blizzard says even though some companies are ditching DEI actions speak louder than words.

“Go look at the leadership teams of many companies. You go online and it’s at people like me. It’s white males, old people like me,” Blizzard said. “There’s still a long way to go, and forcing hasn’t worked, even the kind of encouraging hasn’t worked. We need something different.”

Blizzard says he expects some kind of lawsuit to stem from President Trump’s executive order on DEI.