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Accenture Walks Back Its ‘Unwavering’ DEI Commitment

In its annual report released on October 10, 2024, Accenture wrote, “We have an unwavering commitment to inclusion and diversity.” Less than four months later, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said in a memo to employees that the company has canceled four DEI-related goals and programs.  Here’s the recent timeline of Accenture’s DEI policy from 2017 until now. The State of Accenture’s DEI Policy Department Status: Active…

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Amid DEI Pullback, Meijer Expands Diverse Supplier Program

In early February, Meijer released a press release stating that the company “reaffirmed its commitment today to growing its selection of Black-owned brands.”  The supplier inclusion program at Meijer started in 2021 and has grown the number of Black-owned brands by 35% since then. Meijer joins a growing list of companies that support DEI in recent months. Here’s everything you need to know about Meijer’s…

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Google Continues Its DEI Rollback (A Multi-Year Process)

Fiona Cicconi, Chief People Office at Alphabet (parent company of Google), sent an internal email to staff on Wednesday. Reuters first reported on the story. In the email, Google announced that is has stopped its diversity-hiring goals.  But this is just the latest step in Google’s steady retreat from DEI that started in 2023. Here’s the timeline. The State of Google’s DEI Policy Department Status: Active Department…

Dell Issues Its 6th RTO Mandate: 5 Days/Week In March

On Friday, January 31, 2025, Business Insider shared an internal memo from CEO Michael Dell calling everyone within one hour of a Dell office to work in the office five days per week.  “Starting March 3, all hybrid and remote team members who live near a Dell office will work in the office five days a week. We are retiring the hybrid policy effective that…

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Report: Every Fortune 100 DEI Program Analyzed [Jan 2025]

The ideas behind “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion” (DEI) in the workplace date back to the 1960s. But the actual phrase likely first appeared in the 2000s and the public didn’t take notice until 2022. More specifically, Google Trends shows that the topic “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion” wasn’t searched until the third week of February 2022. In just three short years, DEI fully embedded itself into…

Home Office Backgrounds For Zoom Meetings: Complete Guide

You’re ready to improve your home office background for video meetings – enough with the window glare, the slightly made bed, and the poster from ten years ago. You want to present a bit more professionally in Zoom meetings. But on the flip side, you don’t necessarily need the Library of Alexandria behind you. You just need some simple improvements or a backdrop that dresses…

Notable Companies Leaving Chicago & Why (Jan 2025)

In this report, we highlight notable companies leaving Chicago since 2020 and why. You’ll find every public announcement by businesses stating they’ve moved out of Chicago as well as companies threatening to move. Despite lockdowns being lifted over a year ago, Chicago’s office space remains the emptiest on record. On top of that, even the occupied buildings aren’t being used. The Windy City’s “office vacancy…

120 Companies With The Best Maternity Leave (January 2025)

Here are 120 companies with the best maternity leave. To qualify for the list, a company needs to offer at least 12 weeks of maternity leave. You’ll see some companies offer up to 52 weeks, though. If you’d like to download the full database of 120 companies with great maternity leave, click here. Use the links below to navigate to a specific group: View the…

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Caterpillar Resource Industries Mandates 5-Day RTO

UPDATE: Caterpillar Inc. (enterprise-wide) mandated 5-day RTO on April 9 with a start date of June 2. Read the full memo here. I received an email from a Caterpillar employee stating this: “Caterpillar Resource Industries has mandated 5 day/week return to office for all employees beginning Feb 1, 2025. It will be closely tracked and employees that do not comply will receive a ‘does not meet…