Google scraps its diversity hiring goals as it complies with Trump’s new government contractor rules

SAN FRANCISCO (news agencies) — Google is scrapping some of its diversity hiring targets, joining a lengthening list of U.S. companies that have abandoned or scaled back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The move, which was outlined in an email sent to Google employees on Wednesday, came in the wake of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that was aimed in part at pressuring government contractors to scrap their DEI initiatives.

Like several other major tech companies, Google sells some of its technology and services to the federal government, including its rapidly growing cloud division that’s a key piece of its push into artificial technology.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, also signaled the shift in its annual 10-K report it filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In it, Google removed a line included in previous annual reports saying that it’s “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.”

Google generates most of Alphabet’s annual revenue of $350 billion and accounts for almost all of its worldwide workforce of 183,000.

“We’re committed to creating a workplace where all our employees can succeed and have equal opportunities, and over the last year we’ve been reviewing our programs designed to help us get there,” Google said in a statement to media. “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.”

The change in language also comes slightly more than two weeks after Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other prominent technology executives — including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg — stood behind Trump during his inauguration.

Meta jettisoned its DEI program last month, shortly before the inauguration, while Amazon halted some of its DEI programs in December following Trump’s election.