Conversation Starter: The state of DEI for workers

Since late 2024, a wave of companies have pulled back on diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) efforts while others have reaffirmed their commitments. What does the Glassdoor data say about the state of affairs around DEI for workers? Overall, DEI still seems to draw significant attention from workers. Even if companies decide to stop promoting DEI, employees and job seekers alike are likely to continue evaluating companies based on their commitment to DEI.

DEI conversations rising on Glassdoor’s community

The number of posts on Glassdoor community that mention DEI-related topics have increased more dramatically. During the period of January 21, 2025 through February 17, 2025, posts in Glassdoor community that mention DEI have surged almost four fold (3.6x) compared to the same period the year prior.

Additionally, these posts have engendered significantly more discussion as the average number of comments under each post about DE&I has jumped from 5.3 in the same period last year to 16.9 this year, a three-fold increase (3.2x). Many of these posts are centered on the recent government and corporate shifts against DEI.

Two examples from the Glassdoor community below ask for advice on whether to highlight ERG leadership positions on their resume or how to communicate DEI policy changes to employees, demonstrating that large-scale changes create many specific questions for workers and managers trying to navigate the new landscape.

Workers seeking out DEI information

Even if some employers are not promoting DEI externally as loudly, job seekers are still seeking out information on DEI from public resources like Glassdoor. From January 21, 2025 through February 17, 2025, user visits to the “Diversity” section on employer profiles on Glassdoor have increased almost five fold (4.8x) compared to the comparable period last year. The “Diversity” section of employer profiles includes information about employee satisfaction with DEI, overall employee satisfaction by different demographic groups, and other information about DEI programs and goals (for example, linked here is the “Diversity” section for Glassdoor as an employer).

Even if employers stop promoting DEI externally or internally, clearly, this is still a factor that job seekers and employees can consider when evaluating employers.

Workers increasingly dissatisfied with state of DEI

Employee sentiment about the state of DEI at their employers has turned more negative over the last few years, since peaking in 2021. The share of reviews that discuss DEI at their employers positively has fallen to just 34% as of February 2025 (month to date). That’s the least positive sentiment around employer DEI has been since before the pandemic began in August 2019.

The share of Glassdoor reviews that mention DEI topics rose 22% from October 2024 before the election to February 2025 MTD, bringing the level of mentions in reviews to the highest level since August 2021.

Fewer workers reporting access to DEI programs

Employees’ reported access to DEI programs as a benefit at their employers has been dropping over the last few years since peaking in 2021. The share of employees reporting access to DEI programs fell from 42% in 2021 to 39% in 2024, though it is still above pre-pandemic (28% in 2019). 2025 data is still very early, but early evidence suggests a sharper drop in reported access, falling to 35%.

Interestingly, more employees in 2025 thus far are unsure whether they have access to DEI programs compared to those who report that they do have access. This points to turmoil created by recent corporate statements and government action that have left workers uncertain about the future of existing programs.

Methodology

Community posts

We identified posts on Glassdoor’s community that mention related terms like “diversity”, “DEI” or “DE&I” through February 17, 2025. The year-over-year change was calculated based on the period of January 21, 2025 through February 17, 2025 compared to January 23, 2024 through February 19, 2024. The two day date offset is to align weekdays—for example, January 21, 2025 and January 23, 2024 are both Tuesdays.

Employer profile pageviews

We measured pageviews by U.S. Glassdoor users to the “Diversity” tab on Glassdoor employer profiles through February 17, 2025. Data is based on comparing year over year change for January 21, 2025 through February 17, 2025 to January 23, 2024 through February 19, 2024, with a two day offset to align weekdays.

Glassdoor reviews

We used Glassdoor’s proprietary Review Intelligence algorithm to identify reviews that mention DEI-related topics. We calculated the share of reviews that mention these topics as well as their sentiment. The chart highlights the percentage of reviews that mention DEI with a positive sentiment as a share of reviews that mention DEI at all.

The analysis is based on reviews submitted by current full-time or part-time employees from January 1, 2016 through February 2017, 2025 aggregated to the monthly level. February 2025 data is month-to-date.

Sentiment analysis may find it difficult to distinguish between posts that are negative because they oppose DEI efforts vs. those that are negative because they support DEI efforts and don’t believe their company goes far enough, but because the sentiment of DEI topic reviews increased in late 2020 when there was a broad social push towards DEI, it seems likely the positivity of this sentiment metric correlates with positivity about DEI itself.

Diversity program benefits

We analyzed Glassdoor benefit reviews from current or former U.S. employees in full-time or part-time roles where users reported access to “diversity programs” as a benefit or perk. The year is based on the year the job was held. Data was updated through February 17, 2025.