Maria Aspin

Trump, meanwhile, wrote on his Truth Social network that Musk, quote, will always be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific. Maria Aspin, NPR News, Simi Valley, California.

Trump, meanwhile, wrote on his Truth Social network that Musk, quote, will always be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific. Maria Aspin, NPR News, Simi Valley, California.

Right. Some of the biggest U.S. employers, Walmart, Target, Amazon, have announced that they're ending some DEI policies. And, A, companies have been retreating for a few years now. Back in 2023, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action. And that same summer, Bud Light faced a conservative backlash after it hired a transgender influencer for a marketing video.

Right. Some of the biggest U.S. employers, Walmart, Target, Amazon, have announced that they're ending some DEI policies. And, A, companies have been retreating for a few years now. Back in 2023, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action. And that same summer, Bud Light faced a conservative backlash after it hired a transgender influencer for a marketing video.

Right. Some of the biggest U.S. employers, Walmart, Target, Amazon, have announced that they're ending some DEI policies. And, A, companies have been retreating for a few years now. Back in 2023, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action. And that same summer, Bud Light faced a conservative backlash after it hired a transgender influencer for a marketing video.

That all made companies start worrying about the legal and financial risks of talking about DEI. And then President Trump was reelected and issued executive orders against what he calls illegal DEI. That increased the political risks.

That all made companies start worrying about the legal and financial risks of talking about DEI. And then President Trump was reelected and issued executive orders against what he calls illegal DEI. That increased the political risks.

That all made companies start worrying about the legal and financial risks of talking about DEI. And then President Trump was reelected and issued executive orders against what he calls illegal DEI. That increased the political risks.

For example, just this month, we saw Verizon tell a federal agency that it would end many of its DEI policies right before the government approved a big $20 billion deal for Verizon. So for months, I've been covering this drumbeat of news about companies ending DEI, and I started wondering what that meant for all of the people affected, the people they hired to do this work. So what'd you dig up?

For example, just this month, we saw Verizon tell a federal agency that it would end many of its DEI policies right before the government approved a big $20 billion deal for Verizon. So for months, I've been covering this drumbeat of news about companies ending DEI, and I started wondering what that meant for all of the people affected, the people they hired to do this work. So what'd you dig up?

For example, just this month, we saw Verizon tell a federal agency that it would end many of its DEI policies right before the government approved a big $20 billion deal for Verizon. So for months, I've been covering this drumbeat of news about companies ending DEI, and I started wondering what that meant for all of the people affected, the people they hired to do this work. So what'd you dig up?

The numbers are pretty bleak. More than 2,600 jobs in diversity or DEI have been eliminated in the last couple of years. That's more than 10% of the jobs that existed at the start of 2023. Now, these are numbers from a data analysis that a firm called Revelio Labs did exclusively for NPR. And it found that this was a dramatic change from five years ago.

The numbers are pretty bleak. More than 2,600 jobs in diversity or DEI have been eliminated in the last couple of years. That's more than 10% of the jobs that existed at the start of 2023. Now, these are numbers from a data analysis that a firm called Revelio Labs did exclusively for NPR. And it found that this was a dramatic change from five years ago.

The numbers are pretty bleak. More than 2,600 jobs in diversity or DEI have been eliminated in the last couple of years. That's more than 10% of the jobs that existed at the start of 2023. Now, these are numbers from a data analysis that a firm called Revelio Labs did exclusively for NPR. And it found that this was a dramatic change from five years ago.

After George Floyd was murdered, there was this huge rush for companies to hire chief diversity officers and other people with experience in this kind of specialized field. But now these people are being reassigned or having their jobs renamed or, in some cases, being laid off.

After George Floyd was murdered, there was this huge rush for companies to hire chief diversity officers and other people with experience in this kind of specialized field. But now these people are being reassigned or having their jobs renamed or, in some cases, being laid off.

After George Floyd was murdered, there was this huge rush for companies to hire chief diversity officers and other people with experience in this kind of specialized field. But now these people are being reassigned or having their jobs renamed or, in some cases, being laid off.

So this is a really steep loss of a lot of jobs, and it's affecting thousands of people who are trained and experienced in this area.

So this is a really steep loss of a lot of jobs, and it's affecting thousands of people who are trained and experienced in this area.

So this is a really steep loss of a lot of jobs, and it's affecting thousands of people who are trained and experienced in this area.