Businesses, in partnership with the third sector, are pioneering efforts to educate the public about equality and diversity. This collaboration plays a crucial role in promoting inclusive practices and fostering a more equitable society. This helps protect groups at risk of exclusion, is an additional voice in public debate and works to oppose harassment. Many companies in Poland reacted strongly to anti-LGBTQIA+ actions (e.g. local authorities in Poland imposing ‘LGBT-free zones’). Similarly, a growing number of European companies are disassociating themselves from Donald Trump's actions targeting DEI.

Donald Trump was inaugurated in January. Within just a few days he had sent employees of the offices of equality and diversity on enforced leave and issued executive orders ordering the withdrawal of DEI initiatives. While these were primarily aimed at the government and the public sector, they certainly have a knock-on effect on the private sector. Some US companies have begun to drop DEI activities, cut funding and redefine goals for 2025, as well as asking employees to remove gender-declaring pronouns from the footers of emails.

How are European companies, including subsidiaries or affiliates of US corporations, reacting? They are increasingly cutting themselves off from what is happening overseas. In February, the heads of leading UK consulting firms (known as the ‘big four’) signalled that they were going to redouble efforts on their diversity policies and actions (despite their US counterparts in the same global firms taking the opposite course).

It is important to remember that the US political, legal and cultural/social environment is different from that of Europe.

Firstly, affirmative action (which is essentially the most controversial and opposed by the Trump administration) was far-reaching in the States. In most European countries, this has not been applied on such a scale and to such an extent, due to legal restrictions. Secondly, US companies have to comply with federal law and certain guidelines (especially if they work with the public sector) and now have to try to find their way in the new reality. European entities are more independent, not bound by these laws, and subject to their own legislation and judiciary. Most European employers (including Polish) have an obligation to combat discrimination. They therefore take appropriate measures in this respect, which often intersect with DEI initiatives (training, anti-discrimination and equality policies, support and protection of groups at risk of discrimination and exclusion).

The prohibition on discrimination also means protecting employees who declare a different gender or sexual identity. In most European countries, it is difficult to imagine that employers (without being exposed to effective discrimination claims) could order employees to remove pronouns from the footers of emails in order to restore the ‘biological truth’ (i.e. that there are only two genders other than female and male). Besides, without DEI policies and initiatives, it is difficult today to retain talent and attract quality candidates. A British study shows that, when choosing a job, 68% of Millennials and Gen Z representatives think it is important whether the company promotes diversity among leaders (in the States, this only matters to 57% of respondents).

Find more in the PRO HR February 2025.