Diversity
have danced around the question of what happens when employers set “inflexible” targets for racial quotas.
But he said it’s more likely the Trump administration is using the move as a political tactic ahead of the presidential election. Trump has criticized workplace training that he says is based on critical race theory, or the idea that racism is systemic in the U.S.
Dozens of companies have ramped up their efforts to bring more Black and other minority employees into their ranks since the protests over Floyd’s death shook the country and triggered a national reckoning over racism. Many have announced initiatives specifically targeting the African American community.
The CEOs of the 27 largest employers in New York — including Amazon and J.P. Morgan— formed a coalition to recruit 100,000 people from low-income Black, Hispanic and Asian communities in the city by 2030. More than 40 companies have joined a pledge to add at least one Black member to their board of
directors by 2021.
Several other top government contractors have set numeric goals for adding Black or Latino employees, including consulting firms Accenture and Deloitte.
Johnny Taylor, the CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, said he has asked for a conference with U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia to seek clarity about the intention of the inquiries.
“I want them to ensure the companies are complyingwith the lawbut that investigation doesn’t result in a chilling effect ondiversity and inclusion programs,” said Taylor, whose organization represents 300,000 human resource professionals across the world.
Taylor said he believed the policies announced by Microsoft and Wells Fargo amounted to aspirational goals, rather than quotas based on race. But he said announcing numbers may have opened companies to discrimination complaints.
Companies can protect themselves against claims of discrimination by widening their applicant pool to ensure a large enough number of qualifiedminority candidates, said Mabel Abraham, an assistant professor of management at
Columbia University. The challenge, she said, is that companies have to show they have measurable diversity goals to attract talented minority applicants in the first place.
“Companies that are going to get the applicants are the ones that actually have minorities in top roles and that are putting out messages of race and diversity,” she said. “It’s a chicken-and-egg problem.”
The latest actions affecting contractors align with a broader Trump administration trend onmatters of race.
The Education Department last month opened an investigation into racial bias at Princeton University over the school’s recent acknowledgment of racism on campus, and on Thursday, the JusticeDepartment sued Yale University, weeks after prosecutors found the university was illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law.
Trump’s newest executive order also applies to educational institutions that receive federal funding. At least one university, the University of Iowa, suspended its diversity efforts in response the order.