Some companies have taken a step back from DE&I in recent months, but civil rights organizations and advocates say that abandoning these efforts, especially as they relate to LGBTQ+ workers, will undermine progress and harm business.

The latest. Several civil rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), NAACP, National Women’s Law Center, and American Association of People with Disabilities, wrote a letter to Fortune 500 CEOs in mid-September, in response to anti-DE&I efforts. The organizations called on the CEOs and their boards to reaffirm their commitment to “workplace inclusion” for the betterment of their business. Lowe’s, Molson Coors, Ford, and others have all walked back their DE&I programs in recent months, announcing they will not participate in the HRC workplace index.

However, there’s a strong business case for continuing DE&I efforts, the civil rights groups reminded the CEOs. Diverse companies perform better financially, and emerging professionals prefer to work for them.

LGBTQ+ workers undermined. LGBTQ+ advocates who spoke with HR Brew said they’re concerned about employers’ reversals. By abandoning DE&I programs, companies are putting politics in front of employees, and workers could be exposed to discrimination.

Keep reading here.—KP

It can be tricky for employers to make the call on whether or not to weigh in on politics at work, but there’s one issue that Vote.org hopes more HR leaders will champion this election year: civic participation.

Election-friendly workplaces. The voter registration non-profit recently launched a campaign asking companies to take action “in support of American voters,” including granting workers paid time off to vote. Research indicates that barriers such as childcare constraints or conflicting work schedules can impede voter turnout, and most states now require employers to give their employees time off to vote, whether paid or unpaid.

Vote.org launched a large campaign in 2020 encouraging employers to make election day a holiday, according to CEO Andrea Hailey. Through that campaign, the organization estimates 1.8 million employees were given PTO to vote. Ahead of the 2024 election, Vote.org is once again pushing for employers to give their workers time off to vote, with participation from companies including Linktree, Pinterest, and Snapchat.

A non-partisan issue. Vote.org recommends that employers be flexible on when workers can take PTO to vote, Hailey said, given some states allow for early voting. Ideally, Vote.org wants to see businesses give their workers the entire day off, as this may allow them to not only vote, but also serve as poll workers or give people rides to the polls.

Keep reading here.—CV

Thousands of workers were laid off by Cisco early this month, prompting frustrated staffers to take to online forums.

“This is the worst layoff handling [in history] by Cisco leaders,” one user posted to Blind, a popular site for anonymous commentary on internal company issues, primarily in the tech industry.

Cisco reportedly cut 5,600 positions across a number of sectors of the company. According to commenters at Blind and similar site The Layoff, the layoffs appeared to be driven by cost cutting—not the talent of those who lost their jobs.

For some forum users, the latest round of layoffs indicates a deeper problem at the company.

Keep reading on IT Brew.—EH