DEI practices are under fire in US: Where do Singapore and Apac companies stand?

THE hype around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices has taken a drastic turn in the last six months, as a slew of large global corporations axed the practice one after another.

US President Donald Trump became the latest to join the anti-DEI movement, as he rescinded executive orders that promoted DEI and promulgated rights for LGBTQ+ people and racial minorities.

In early January, Meta announced that it will be putting a halt to a number of its DEI programmes.

Other companies that have taken similar moves since October 2024 include Amazon, McDonald’s, Boeing and Walmart, though to varying extents.

In a Dec 16 internal note shared by Amazon, Candi Castleberry, the corporate’s vice-president of inclusive experiences and technology, said the company was in the process of “winding down outdated programmes and materials”, as part of an update on the work the organisation had been doing around representation and inclusion.

Previously in the 2000s, workplaces began providing diversity training programmes for their employees. By the 2010s, such programmes expanded to focus on multicultural marketing, community engagement and inclusion training.

Social movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and the #metoo movement had also resulted in a renewed focus on inclusivity and other rights.

Reasons for DEI abandonment

Some companies – especially those in the US – have started to phase out those policies, as they feel the heat from far-right conservatives who want to downplay DEI efforts.

Human resources (HR) analyst Adrian Tan noted that there was “increasing conservative pressure from all fronts” during the US election, which saw the return of Trump to the White House.

Some companies in the US that expect Trump’s second presidency to be a threat to DEI will therefore choose to phase it out before any backlash or public fallout is incurred, explained Tan.

High costs associated with implementing DEI initiatives is another reason cited by companies.

According to findings from Harvard Kennedy School, some US$8 billion is spent on DEI training a year – but many remain uncertain of its return on investment for these global corporations.

Raunak Bhandari, regional HR business partner leader at Google Asia-Pacific, noted that for global companies like Boeing and Walmart, certain initiatives including DEI efforts, often require “significant investment”.

Such investment involves training, recruitment and organisational restructuring. “In an effort to control costs, companies may thus reallocate resources away from DEI,” added Bhandari, who is certified by the Institute for Human Resource Professionals.

The scale-back on DEI initiatives may also point to a shift in focus of a company’s business strategy, he noted.

This comes as some corporations may feel that DEI programmes need to be “adjusted to reflect measurable outcomes, rather than being seen as token gestures”.

As a result, they may embed such policies into the organisation’s core values, rather than standalone initiatives.

DEI in Singapore and Apac

Despite the global shift away from DEI policies, that might not be entirely the case for Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Bhandari said: “Overall, in Singapore, the trend is more towards adopting and refining DEI practices especially in multinational corporations and progressive sectors.”

He observes that companies in the tech, healthcare and finance sectors in Singapore have increasingly adopted DEI practices.

Amanda Gervay, senior vice-president of people and capability for the Asia-Pacific at Mastercard, noted that the Apac region offers unique conditions for DEI initiatives.

“The rich cultural diversity of Apac fosters inclusive practices and drives innovation, where supportive government policies in the region have also advanced DEI efforts,” she said.

“Our employee engagement score for ‘inclusion’ in Apac, as well as globally, is consistently above the external benchmark, as we continue to be strongly committed to fostering a workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute,” she added.

Assistant Professor Jared Nai, who teaches organisational behaviour and human resources at the Singapore Management University, said that while employees are still concerned about gender, racial and age discrimination at the workplace, they might be increasingly less so.

“There are now clear channels to report discriminating practices and companies have at least seemingly embraced DEI initiatives by setting hiring and promotion quotas and having training sessions,” said Prof Nai.

Poor implementation risks tokenism

Tan cautions that DEI policies could end up being divisive rather than inclusive if haphazardly implemented. For instance, he said, reverse discrimination occurs when minority groups are given certain advantages in various situations, including employment and education.

While DEI initiatives have good intentions, a tokenistic approach to it would disadvantage any gender at the workplace, he added.

“If the company considers gender before the skill set of a potential employee, that doesn’t give a fair chance to everybody, whether you’re a woman or a man.”

Greater accountability required

The solution, however, isn’t to do away with DEI initiatives altogether, said Google Apac’s Bhandari.

Besides the consequences of a more fragmented workforce and low employee morale, the economic costs for companies without DEI can be high, too.

“Companies that neglect DEI may face reputational damage, which can affect stock prices and investor confidence. Additionally, they might miss out on the benefits of diverse perspectives that drive business growth and market share,” he said.

A key issue the DEI space faces today is its varying level of “maturity” across different countries, said Gervay.

“Such disparities can create inconsistencies in the execution of DEI initiatives and require more tailored approaches to address specific regional needs,” she explained.

HR analyst Tan noted the misalignment between how employees and management value DEI is setting companies back.

“Management must showcase that DEI is something long-term and sustainable (for their organisations), and not done just because it is trending on TikTok right now, for example,” he explained.

He added that developing good methods to measure the impact of DEI would add weight to its initiatives, and get people internally to champion it as well.

But while metrics and data-driven targets are crucial for setting DEI initiatives on track to long-term success, ultimately, “walking the talk” is what people really want to see, Tan emphasised. 

“This means that DEI efforts have to start from the top,” he said. “If you look at the senior leadership team of any company on their website, they can (write any kind of rhetoric around) DEI.

“But when you realise that all 10 C-suite leaders of the organisation are white men, it pens a different story.”