How your private-sector workplace may change under Trump’s anti-DEI directives

Employers have already started making moves in anticipation of possible scrutiny from the Trump administration.

Private-sector employers have spent the past six weeks trying to parse the clear-as-mud implications of an executive order from President Donald Trump deriding what he classifies as “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) “discrimination and preferences” — as well as a memo from US Attorney General Pam Bondi that “encourage(s)” companies to “end” such “illegal” practices upon threat of being investigated. On top of that, companies now have to factor in the implications of a February 21 preliminary injunction that blocks three provisions in the administration’s DEI directives. What all of this will mean practically for you as a private-sector employee or job seeker is not entirely settled, nor will it be uniform across employers. Much will depend on the position that leaders in your company take and the laws in your state governing DEI-related issues. But here is a look at some of what has started to happen and what further changes you might expect, especially at employers that have federal contracts with the government. No one knows exactly what the Trump administration is referring to when it warns it won’t tolerate “illegal” DEI efforts, since many things that are mistakenly conflated with DEI — like quotas — are already illegal. And neither Trump’s order, nor Bondi’s memo, change existing anti-discrimination laws. As 16 attorneys general from blue states put it in a guidance letter to businesses operating in their states, Trump’s order “conflates valid and legal programs and practices supporting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility with unlawful preferences in hiring and promotion.”