It wasn’t so long ago that diversity, equity and inclusion were the hallmarks of the modern workplace, with companies investing in programs to promote the fair and equitable treatment of its employees.

However, it appears workers’ opinions on such measures have become more negative over the past year, according to a survey by Pew Research Center.

Workers in the United States are now somewhat more likely to say that increasing DEI at work is mainly a bad thing. Workers also feel that their company or organization pays too much attention to increasing DEI.

Pew Research said the number of workers who think increasing DEI at work is mainly a positive thing has decreased to 52 per cent from 56 per cent in February 2023. The share of workers who say it is a bad thing is up five percentage points to 21 per cent since last year. About a quarter say focusing on DEI is neither good nor bad.

Women, Democrats and Black, Hispanic and Asian workers are most likely to say DEI in the workplace is a good thing. Men and Republicans believe the opposite and are most likely to see DEI efforts as a bad thing, with 42 per cent sharing this sentiment, up from 30 per cent last year. The share of Republicans who offer a neutral view has dropped eight points.

In the past year, Asian workers have also become less likely to see DEI as a good thing, with only slightly more than half (52 per cent) approving of the efforts, down from 72 per cent.

The survey also found that a growing share of workers say their company pays too much attention to increasing DEI.

Pew Research conducted a separate survey in which it asked Americans, regardless of their employment status, whether DEI practices helped certain groups of workers more than it hurt them. Respondents said such practices helped more than hindered male and female workers in nearly every category across the board (Black, Hispanic, Asian), except for white.

Although white women were seen as being helped by DEI more than hurt (30 per cent vs. 23 per cent, with 30 per cent saying neither helped nor hurt), white men were the only category of worker seen to be hurt (34 per cent) more than helped (14 per cent) by such measures.

White adults are also more likely than other groups to say DEI practices hurt white men and women in the workplace, with almost half, or 47 per cent, saying the workplace practices hurt white men.

• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com

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