Diversity Backlash: Critics from Both Left and Right Target Corporate DEI Efforts

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs are facing growing criticism—not just from conservative voices, but from the left as well.

Once seen as a hallmark of progressive workplaces, DEI initiatives have been scaled back in the U.S., notably under President Donald Trump, and now face elimination in parts of the U.K. where Reform UK gained local power. However, according to The Guardian, left-leaning scholars and activists argue that these efforts have become little more than symbolic gestures.

John Narayan, director of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), said DEI efforts often amount to state-sanctioned co-option that sidesteps deeper reforms. “We can all do saris, steelbands and samosas,” he said, but radical demands from past anti-racism movements—around housing, education and borders—remain unmet.

Critics like journalist and author Ash Sarkar view corporate DEI as a poor substitute for collective action. “So much of liberal DEI is bullshit,” she said, citing defense companies offering microaggression training while manufacturing weapons used in global conflicts. She ties the rise of DEI to the decline of trade union power, arguing that “representation is a poor substitute for collective bargaining.”

Still, advocates caution against abandoning DEI altogether. Sarkar and Narayan stress the importance of connecting race and gender struggles with class-based issues. Examples include labor victories such as ending zero-hours contracts and achieving equal pay for migrant teachers.

Zita Holbourne, co-founder of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts, said corporate DEI efforts often ignore low-paid, precarious workers—many of whom are Black or migrant. “Equality is supposed to be at the heart of trade unions,” she said.

Kudsia Batool of the Trades Union Congress warned that symbolic gestures like “wearing pink T-shirts” won’t close pay gaps. Instead, she called for legal mandates, including ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.

Both Narayan and Sarkar view the right’s attacks on DEI as part of a broader ideological rollback of civil rights protections. “The end of EDI,” Narayan said, “could signal a darker political turn.”

Batool added, “HR policies matter—but they’re not enough. When DEI is defunded, workers lose rights, protections, and ultimately, their dignity.”