Don't call it DEI: Recruiters explain the hiring landscape under Trump 2.0

• Since returning to office, Trump signed an executive order to end DEI programs across the federal government.
• Despite DEI rollbacks, some hiring managers are still prioritizing diversity, recruiters said.
• Firms that continue commitments to DEI could get a leg up when competing for workers.

For some recruiters, DEI initiatives look different these days.

Some employers have scaled back or dropped their DEI programs, in part due to President Donald Trump's executive order to end DEI programs across the federal government. Additionally, Trump directed all departments and agencies to "take strong action to end private sector DEI discrimination."

However, four recruiting professionals told Business Insider that many of the hiring managers they work with, including some at companies that have rolled back DEI initiatives, remain committed to hiring a diverse workforce. They view this as the best way to find the most qualified person for the job.

"At some of the biggest major companies that you have seen on these lists, the same hiring managers are telling me, 'Okay, we're doubling down on my team, I don't care,'" said Den Mondejar — director of enterprise and talent solutions at the recruiting firm Aquent — referring to lists of companies that have rolled back their DEI initiatives.

Deepali Vyas said there appeared to be a "quiet commitment" to DEI among the companies that she worked with at the consulting firm Korn Ferry. Vyas was a senior partner, focused on building leadership teams, until she joined the talent advisory firm ZRG Partners this month. She said hiring managers who value interviewing and hiring diverse candidates have continued doing so, and their employers aren't getting in their way. Meanwhile, companies that have rolled back DEI policies aren't telling hiring managers to ignore diversity, Vyas said. They're just taking a hands-off approach and letting hiring managers take the lead.

"Companies that roll back their DEI policies aren't going to hiring managers and saying, 'Don't do this,'" she said. "What they're saying is, 'We don't really care if you do this or not.'"

Recruiters say DEI hiring looks different now

Julia Pollak, chief economist at the US Department of Labor, said she hasn't seen "broad evidence of a decline in the hiring of diverse candidates," adding that unemployment rates across demographics like race and gender haven't changed much in recent months.

Of course, not all hiring managers will prioritize diversity when they aren't being assessed on it. The recruiting professionals BI spoke with said that the absence of top-down pressure to meet DEI initiatives would likely lead to fewer diverse candidates being hired.

Matt Stabile, the founder of the recruitment firm Stabile Search, agreed that specific demographic "quotas" have "all but gone away," but that many hiring managers have continued to prioritize diversity in hiring.

For example, Stabile said one hiring manager he worked with in the past year had a team of about six people — all white males — and was looking to hire someone new. They asked him to make sure he introduced female candidates during the interview process.

However, some recruiters — like Vyas and Mondejar — said they aren't waiting for hiring managers to request a diverse pool of candidates.

"Regardless of what the client says, I think our commitment is to still continue to make sure that we are casting the widest net possible to make sure that we are bringing in the most qualified folks," Mondejar said.

Cautiously approaching DEI

Anuradha Hebbar, President of SHRM CEO Action for Inclusion and Diversity, said DEI has become a polarizing topic, creating a "chilling effect" that's made some companies more cautious about how they talk about diversity. However, she said many companies remain committed to having a diverse workforce while ensuring their hiring practices don't expose them to legal challenges.

"I think leading organizations are looking to optimize their diverse workforce to ensure fairness and making sure that they're lawful — but also really trying to drive meaningful business outcomes," she said, adding that companies that don't consider a diverse slate of candidates are likely to miss out on talented candidates.

Vyas said some companies have embraced "skills-based hiring," which focuses more on a candidate's capabilities rather than their education and experience, in part so they can prioritize diversity without the DEI label. With this approach, she said it's easier to make the case for a wider range of candidates.

Reuben Hurst, assistant professor of management and organization at the University of Maryland, said there's one reason many companies are continuing their commitments to DEI, even if they're not as vocal about them as they used to be: It could help them compete for workers.

Hurst said that many of the college-educated workers that employers are competing for have values that align with the goals of DEI initiatives.

"I think the current narrative about firms abandoning DEI is overstated," he said, adding, "What's changed is that companies may now need more subtle ways to signal their continued commitment to DEI values."

Do you have a story to share about DEI practices at your employer? Contact this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com or Signal at jzinkula.29.