Ending practice of 'aspirational representational goals' to focus on 'fair and consistent' hiring
The chief people officer of Adobe has announced that the tech firm will "discontinue" its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) targets, adding the company to the growing list of firms that are withdrawing these policies.
Gloria Chen made the announcement in an internal all-hands meeting, Business Insider reported, citing a recording that it obtained.
"We will discontinue the practice of setting aspirational representation goals while continuing our focus on fair and consistent hiring practices," Chen said in the meeting, as quoted by the news outlet.
According to Chen, Adobe has never actually hired based on the quotas set by their DEI targets, which are known internally as their "Aspirational Goals."
Adobe's Aspirational Goals is an initiative it launched in 2020 amid the wave of DEI policies introduced in workplaces at that time following the death of George Floyd.
The initiative underscores Adobe's commitment to global diversity and inclusion across gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural background, and religious beliefs. Among its goals are:
"These goals are stretch and aspirational; for a company of our size, they will not be easy – but it's important for us to put this stake in the ground and drive forward progress," Adobe said on its website in 2020.
Adobe's recent announcement to discontinue its DEI hiring targets comes amid a growing anti-DEI climate in Corporate America, where organisations alter their DEI policies despite overwhelming support from employees.
Aside from Adobe, the other firms that made changes to their DEI policies include:
Their withdrawal stems from a variety of reasons, including conservative pushback, as well as a shifting legal landscape following a Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional and unlawful Harvard College's inclusion of race as a factor in college admission policies.
US President Donald Trump, in one of his first executive orders during his second term, also placed on leave all federal employees working for DEI offices.
He has also banned the so-called "illegal DEI," which he claimed diminishes the importance of "individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination" during recruitment, impacting federal contractors and organisations that receive federal funding.
Chen, as reported by Business Insider, said executive orders can be "complex" to interpret, and that Adobe is evaluating many of its internal programmes, activities, and practices to ensure the company's compliance.
But reports claim that Adobe has already scrubbed off the word "diversity" in its most recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was lodged after Trump took office.
Footnoted, a company that looks at the SEC filings of organisations, noted that the Form 10-K filed by Adobe on January 10, before Trump, still highlighted the company's DEI efforts.
"Our employees, our customers and the communities we serve care deeply about diversity, equity, and inclusion," the form read as quoted by Footnoted.
However, the most recent proxy statement that it filed no longer mentioned diversity, which Footnoted pointed out was mentioned 22 times in its 2024 proxy.
"Gone are sentences like this: 'Adobe's purpose starts with our commitment to creating a workplace that reflects the diversity of the world around us, where everyone feels included, respected and empowered to make an impact,'" said Michelle Leder, Footnoted founder, on its website.
Leder also pointed out that the company did not mention "global pay parity," as well as its financial support of "Historically Black Colleges and what it described as "Hispanic-Serving Institutions."
Footnoted further pointed out that the company's Corporate Responsibility page (adobe.com/corporate-responsibility), which was on its Form 10-K, has also disappeared from the company's website.
"When did it disappear? My guess is sometime after Jan. 20, when Trump's EO on 'Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs' went into effect," Leder said.
Trump's opposition to DEI comes in contrast with recent reports saying Americans want their companies' DEI efforts to expand, leaving HR leaders stuck in between.
Hacking HR, an HR services firm, outlined on LinkedIn nine steps that HR teams can take to remain compliant while maintaining inclusion at work. They are:
"Rather than abandoning DEI, organisations must adapt their language, focusing on business-driven inclusion, compliance, and employee well-being, emphasising and reassuring the core values the organisation stands for," Hacking HR said.
