Maria Aspin

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.

It's been pretty hard. For this story, I spent a lot of time talking to Candice Birdsong Williams. She was a top executive with almost two decades of experience in this field, doing things like creating mentorship programs to help underrepresented employees get more visibility and opportunities at the office.

It's been pretty hard. For this story, I spent a lot of time talking to Candice Birdsong Williams. She was a top executive with almost two decades of experience in this field, doing things like creating mentorship programs to help underrepresented employees get more visibility and opportunities at the office.

It's been pretty hard. For this story, I spent a lot of time talking to Candice Birdsong Williams. She was a top executive with almost two decades of experience in this field, doing things like creating mentorship programs to help underrepresented employees get more visibility and opportunities at the office.

But she was laid off from her last company last summer, and she hasn't been able to find a new job. This is what Birdsong Williams told me when I visited her at home in Raleigh this spring.

But she was laid off from her last company last summer, and she hasn't been able to find a new job. This is what Birdsong Williams told me when I visited her at home in Raleigh this spring.

But she was laid off from her last company last summer, and she hasn't been able to find a new job. This is what Birdsong Williams told me when I visited her at home in Raleigh this spring.

We tell a lot more of her story in a new digital feature that published today at NPR.org. Now, Birdsong Williams is just one person, of course. But now we know that there are thousands of people who have been living through this very changing and now very politicized job market.

We tell a lot more of her story in a new digital feature that published today at NPR.org. Now, Birdsong Williams is just one person, of course. But now we know that there are thousands of people who have been living through this very changing and now very politicized job market.

We tell a lot more of her story in a new digital feature that published today at NPR.org. Now, Birdsong Williams is just one person, of course. But now we know that there are thousands of people who have been living through this very changing and now very politicized job market.

Thanks so much.