Affirmative Action’s College Exit: Impact on Corporate Hiring

Even before the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action programs in college admissions, the nation’s top business leaders expressed concern about how the ruling will impact their own diversity goals and hiring practices. 

Major companies like Apple, General Electric, Google, Salesforce, and Starbucks filed a brief in favor of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, the two colleges at the center of the dispute, reiterating the importance of a diverse student body on college campuses. 

They asserted that diversity of race and ethnicity enhances company performance. The Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate racial preferences in hiring may make it more challenging for businesses to discover diverse talent. 

Experts anticipate that the decision, which is focused on university admissions and does not call for changes from corporations, would have an impact on hiring and retention policies. 

Additionally, the choice can leave businesses who encourage diversity in employment with legal difficulty.

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Corporate Change: Russell 1000’s Diversity Commitment

Some Republican leaders have asserted that the verdict may have an impact on how businesses approach diversity recruiting, although it is not yet clear what formal legal ramifications, if any, the judgment may have on corporate operations.

Following the ruling, a coalition of 13 Republican attorneys general cautioned that company DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion) activities would be illegally discriminatory. Later, a number of Democratic AGs contested the assertion, asserting that it was false.

The Economic Policy Institute claims that despite decades of lobbying for equality, minorities of color and women still fall well short of their white male counterparts in terms of representation and pay.

After George Floyd was killed in May 2020, several firms put a greater emphasis on fostering diversity in the workplace.

The Russell 1000, which stands for the nation’s top businesses, made comprehensive plans to promote inclusion, equality, and diversity among their workforces at the time and committed more than $50 billion to these development initiatives. 

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Source: www.cnbc.com