Google’s parent company has removed mention of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” from its annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission and ended hiring goals for representation this week as corporate America experiences the ripple effects of the Trump administration’s targeting of DEI policies within the federal government.
In its 10-K report to the SEC, published Tuesday, Alphabet removed language it included in the previous year, in which it said that “we are committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve.”
In a statement, a spokesperson said Google has been reviewing its programs over the last year as part of a commitment to “creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities.”
The spokesperson added: “We’ve updated our 10-k language to reflect this, and as a federal contractor, our teams are also evaluating changes required following recent court decisions and executive orders on this topic.”
Google also appeared to update its diversity website over the last week. An archived version of its diversity webpage from Jan. 29 listed Melonie Parker as “Chief Diversity Officer.” But the current version of the webpage now lists Parker as “VP, People Operations.”
A Google spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the title change or whether personnel within its diversity team had been affected.
As part of the changes, it informed employees that there will no longer be aspirational hiring goals tied to representation, the spokesperson confirmed. Its Employee Resource Groups will remain. The company has more than 16 such groups supporting communities from trans and gender-non-conforming to Aboriginal and Indigenous groups within the company. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Google would no longer have diversity hiring goals.
Google employed more than 180,000 people worldwide as of December.
After having broadly built up their DEI policies following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, many U.S. companies in recent months have been paring their policies as Donald Trump’s election win amplified criticism of corporate policies that sought to improve representation.
McDonald’s, Meta and Lowe’s all pulled back on their DEI programs in recent months. Just days after Trump’s inauguration, Target said it would end its DEI programs, citing the “evolving external landscape.” Other companies, such as Costco and Delta Air Lines, have said they would continue their DEI practices.