The company is reviewing some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, joining a slew of United States (US) businesses scaling back diversity initiatives.

"In 2020, we set aspirational hiring goals and focused on growing our offices outside California and New York to improve representation," Fiona Cicconi, Alphabet's chief people officer, said in an email to staff on Wednesday, a copy which was reviewed by Reuters. "...but in the future we will no longer have aspirational goals."

Google had for years been among the most vocal companies pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.

In 2020, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai set a goal to have 30% more of its leaders from underrepresented groups by 2025. At the time, about 96% of Google's US leaders were white or Asian, and 73% globally were men.

In 2021, it began to evaluate executive performance on team diversity and inclusion after a prominent leader of artificial intelligence research said the company abruptly fired her after she criticized its diversity efforts. Google's Chief Diversity Officer Melonie Parker said in a 2024 interview with BBC that the company had hit 60% of its five-year goals.

On Wednesday, an Alphabet spokesperson said the company did not have updated figures regarding Pichai's goals.

Alphabet's annual filing with the US SEC on Wednesday showed it omitted a line saying it was "committed to making diversity, equity and inclusion part of everything we do and to growing a workforce that is representative of the users we serve."

That statement appeared in annual reports from 2021 to 2024. The Spokesperson said the line was removed to reflect its review of DEI programs.

--Reuters--