Businesses must remain diligent of their diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, efforts as layoffs proceed, based on McKinsey senior partner Shelley Stewart.
In an interview with CNBC, Stewart warned that a rise in layoffs could pose a challenge to the DEI pledges that many businesses made following the murder of George Floyd by police.
Since December 2020, the amount of cash that firms publicly committed to racial equity has increased from $66 billion to $340 billion. Nonetheless, “it has been difficult to really meet these ambitious goals to deploy this capital,” Stewart said.
Stewart told CNBC that Black Americans have historically been disproportionately affected during economic downturns.
Because Black employees are underrepresented within the tech industry, he said, they is probably not hit disproportionately in that sector. Nonetheless, he stressed the importance of accelerating the variety of Black employees in tech, urging businesses to proceed “occupied with ways to extend representation as we take into consideration emerging from this thing on the opposite side.”
Stewart encourages firms to proceed their DEI efforts by working with diverse suppliers, saying partnering with diverse businesses is “the largest lever that corporations should directly impact society apart from wages.”
“Inclusive growth is healthier for firms, higher for society, higher for our global economy and our domestic economy,” he said. “Folks that follow that, I feel, will emerge on the opposite side stronger.”
Watch the video to learn more in regards to the commitments that firms have made to handle inequality and the impact that an economic downturn could have on these DEI pledges.
