The corporate retreat from diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates is accelerating.
Bank of America is eliminating hiring policies that critics viewed as racially discriminatory after President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning federal contractors from engaging in racial discrimination in hiring practices. The financial giant is removing “aspirational” diversity targets and race-based diversity requirements for hiring and recruitment panels, aligning with Trump’s push for merit-based employment policies.
“We evaluate and adjust our programs in light of new laws, court decisions and, more recently, executive orders from the new administration,” a Bank of America spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “Our goal has been and continues to be to make opportunities available for all of our clients, shareholders, teammates, and the communities we serve.”
Previously, the bank required “diverse slates” in reviewing candidates and conducting interviews for prospective employees. That practice is now being scrapped as part of a broader overhaul. The bank is also renaming its internal “Diversity and Inclusion” office to “Opportunity and Inclusion,” and its latest corporate report replaced multiple references to “diversity” with words like “talent” and “opportunity.”
Supreme Court Ruling & Trump Order Accelerate DEI’s Collapse
For years, critics have argued that the diversity and inclusion programs implemented across America’s largest corporations amounted to illegal racial discrimination. Many corporate giants expanded these efforts following the so-called “racial reckoning” of the summer of 2020, leading to increased legal and political scrutiny of race-based affirmative action policies.
Bank of America’s shift follows a landmark Supreme Court decision last year that struck down race-based affirmative action in college admissions, ruling such policies violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause. Although that ruling directly applied to higher education, corporate legal teams quickly realized its broader implications, prompting a wave of reconsiderations across corporate America.
President Trump’s executive order has further accelerated the rollback of DEI mandates. While private sector companies are not required to abandon programs based on woke DEI ideology, Bank of America is a federal contractor, making it subject to the new restrictions.
Bank of America’s executives also believe that the changes are the “right thing to do,” according to people familiar with the matter. Inside the bank, the changes are being applauded. The move is seen as strengthening the company’s ability to attract top talent and maintain a fair, legally sound hiring process, according to interviews with four bank employees.
Shares of Bank of America rose on Wednesday morning following the news.
Wall Street Abandons ‘Woke’ Hiring Practices
The shift comes just days after Citigroup made a similar decision to eliminate race-based hiring quotas, signaling a broader retreat from the diversity mandates pushed by the Biden administration and corporate America’s embrace of woke ideology.
Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, CEO Brian Moynihan attempted to frame the company’s new approach as inclusive while distancing itself from race-based policies.
“We have always been a bank of opportunity,” he said, emphasizing the firm’s outreach to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and a commitment to hiring the most qualified candidates regardless of race.
A Major Victory for the Trump Administration and Civil Rights
The rollback at Bank of America marks a significant victory for Trump’s push to end race-based policies in corporate America. While left-wing activists have criticized the move, the changes signal a return to a hiring system based on skill and talent rather than racial quotas.
With Wall Street firms now rapidly retreating from DEI mandates, the era of corporate America’s obsession with racial preferences may be coming to an end.
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