From recruiting and retention to company culture and the latest in HR tech, HR Brew delivers up-to-date industry news and tips to help HR pros stay nimble in today’s fast-changing business environment.

HR Brew

Courtney Vinopal

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Black and white men sitting on an unequal sign

How post-pandemic wage growth helped narrow the racial wage gap

Black workers saw higher wage growth than white workers from 2021 to 2023, and as a result the racial wage gap has narrowed to the smallest it’s ever been, according to Syndio.

The racial wage gap is narrowing, but occupational segregation may hinder further progress 

Mikaela Cohen

An interview with Kim Dabbs, author of ‘You Belong Here: The Power of Being Seen, Heard, and Valued on Your Own Terms’

“The workplace is one of the last places in the world that we don’t get to choose every single person that we’re surrounded by…so it’s also an opportunity to stretch and grow.”

Employee identity is important: Here’s how HR can honor it

Kristen Parisi

Unhappy women cradles head in hands in office

Employee happiness declining among disabled workers

Employee happiness and well-being increased overall, but disabled employees are experiencing large declines. 

Disabled workers are less happy and RTO policies are likely to blame, report finds

Different shapes next to each other as icons denoting DEI

Fluency can mean more than speaking a language well.

It can also mean cultural fluency, when business leaders become knowledgeable and immersed in the experiences of their employees and customers, according to Joycelyn David, owner and CEO of Canadian advertising agency AV Communications and author of 

The Multicultural Mindset: Driving Business Growth in a Borderless Era

David sat down with HR Brew to chat about her book and how her experience growing up in Canada led her to teach leaders globally to embrace multiculturalism.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You started writing the book in 2023, and published it earlier this year. Did the direction of the book change over the course of those years?

The more I looked around and the more I realized cultural fluency wasn’t necessarily something that was being talked about in boardrooms and executive circles in the same way that I had seen growing up here in Canada…What we’ve tried to do in the book is give people a practical framework in which to have these conversations, whether you’re an employer who hires people who hail from different parts of the world, or whether you’re a professional looking to grow and thrive in your career…The need hasn’t changed from 2023 to 2025, but the way that we talk about that need and the way that we talk about very sensitive topics today…is the challenging part.

Did any of your personal experiences shape the book?

Working and growing up in Canada, this was my normal, like growing up in a society that values 

 at a federal level. Growing up in a community where hyphenated identity and race-based data was always the norm. It was only when I started looking outside of Canada that I realized how much maybe the world could learn.

Cultural knowledge and information is only the surface level of building cultural fluency. What’s actually needed requires us as humans to slow down and immerse deeper than the surface level…Immersion means you can’t just learn about something by reading and absorbing content…I can learn about Turkey by reading about it and looking at it online, or I can go there and immerse myself in all of the senses…But of course, not everybody has access to travel, not everybody has that luxury. So, what are other ways that people can do that in your own neighborhood, in your own workplace?

It really starts with adopting a mindset that [is outside] your own cultural sphere…so it’s a conscious effort to seek and understand cultures that are not your own…Let’s say, I need to go seek out and then better understand what is it like to grow up and live in the deep south of the United States…I can read about it through headlines and news…or I can really take time to have a conversation with somebody who lives there, or to debate across the aisle, or to go and immerse myself, travel, visit, work in that community. Cultural fluency requires more than information.

Do you have advice for HR pros navigating the current 

Discussions about drawing lines in the sand and having all the debates that are happening in the world today are given by “us and them,” and my perspective is, “It’s both. There is no ‘us and them.’ It’s just we.” We are all multicultural, and we are all, in many ways, descendants of immigrants from somewhere…In workplaces where a multicultural mindset is front and center, you are reminded that your customers are multicultural, because many of them, especially in the US, may not speak English as a first language. So, you need to make sure that your frontline staff, and your recruiting, and your training is reflective of making sure that people understand how to deal with diverse people at the front line.

I always say that diversity is good for business, and that means all kinds of diversity, not just race-based diversity…If companies don’t pay attention to this, that diversity is good for business, they will lose touch with their customers, and they will lose touch with the communities that want to see themselves represented…If you don’t have that diversity representative of your customers who are the mainstream today, you’re going to quickly become irrelevant or out of touch.

Two hands holding on opened book with text highlighted

An interview with Joycelyn David, author of ‘The Multicultural Mindset’

“If companies don’t pay attention to this, that diversity is good for business, they will lose touch with their customers, and they will lose touch with the communities that want to see themselves represented.”

Why cultural fluency is important for HR

Melinda French Gates is committed to spending as much money as possible on women’s advancement, and her organization’s latest partnership is yet another example of this work.

French Gates’ philanthropic consortium, Pivotal, has teamed up with global innovation nonprofit the Aspen Institute for the Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge, according to a Sept. 25 announcement.

 is a $60 million grant that challenges nonprofits and coalitions to develop solutions to the barriers that women face in the workplace. It will run over the course of the next year and will issue funds to up to eight grantees in three focus areas: culture and practices, AI, and narrative, or in other words, initiatives that challenge what it means for women to be successful in the workplace, to include solutions like “mitigating bias.”

The partnership is Pivotal’s latest venture aimed at creating a more equitable world for women. French Gates founded the organization in 2019, and pledged to spend at least $2 billion on women’s equity. In December 2024, the organization committed $150 million to “dismantle” the barriers to equality women face at work.

While women have seemingly made many gains in the workplace in recent decades, they still are 

 than men and frequently don’t have access to the same career opportunities. Working mothers, caregivers, and women of color have experienced declines over the last year, as job opportunities become more limited and companies reduce flexible work options.

“Women—especially mothers of young children—are leaving the workforce at an alarming rate, driven out by inflexible policies, rising childcare costs, bias, and harassment,” French Gates said in an announcement. “Now is the time to invest in better workplaces: ones that support balance, ensure safety for all workers, and recognize women as essential leaders. When we remove barriers for women, we unlock potential across the entire economy.”

A sign that says 'Close The Pay Gap' is held by Nancy Reichman, a member of Colorado's Pay Equity Commission, during a rally in downtown Denver, CO on April 28, 2009.

Aspen Institute teams up with Pivotal for women’s equality

The $60 million competition aims to find solutions for modern workplace barriers.

Japan will raise the disabled worker quota from 2.5% to 2.7% next summer, and it’s causing concern for some employers.

Like countries including Brazil and India, Japan uses hiring quotas to encourage employers to hire more disabled workers. The requirements went into effect in the 1970s with a quota of 1.5%. More than 40 years later, just 46% of employers currently meet or exceed the target disability representation rate, and employers that don’t meet the quota have to pay a fine, according to the 

In a country of roughly 124 million people, there are nearly 700,000 disabled workers, but businesses struggle to find workers to fill the quota, according to 

. The country and its employers have also taken steps toward disability inclusion, by incorporating assistive technology and educating non-disabled workers, the Japan Times 

However, employers still face hurdles as they try to meet their hiring targets. While there are more disabled people in the workforce than ever, the overall workforce is shrinking, and many workplaces are still not designed for people with physical disabilities. Furthermore, some disabled people claim that the work isn’t set up for their skillsets and disabled workers are hired just to hit the quota, which results in high turnover, the Financial Times reported. Workers are frequently hired for menial jobs, like sorting mail or doing inventory at clothing stores.

“Society has made some progress in creating a barrier-free environment,” Naoya Tsuji, director of the AJU Center for Independent Living, told the Financial Times. “If the workplace environment were more barrier-free, people with disabilities would be able to work more.”

Tsuji added that more employers need to provide flexibility so disabled workers can reach their potential.

“The fast-paced shift to active recruitment raises such concerns as the quality and mismatch in the employment,” Satoko Shinbo, a professor and disability employment specialist at Hosei University, told the Japan Times. “Companies need to discuss with such employees their disability conditions and suitability for jobs to constantly make adjustments.”

Companies in Japan struggle to hire disabled workers

The hiring quota will increase in 2026, but workers face hurdles to accessible, meaningful work.

World of HR: Companies in Japan struggle to hire disabled workers

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020 was an inflection point, not only for racial inequality in the US, but for DEI programs. Companies had already been working to diversify the workforce for decades, but for many, this accelerated the movement.

As the popularity of DEI programming soared within US companies (many DEI positions in HR became open), so did opposition. Detractors claimed diversity initiatives were unfair to the majority and politicized the work, turning it into a dog whistle during the 2024 presidential election, when Trump and his supporters called for companies to eliminate all “illegal DEI” practices—and despite executive orders that have been issued since, the legal frameworks haven’t changed much.

Since then, at least 70 big-name companies have rolled back or drastically changed the language associated with their 

, while others anticipate changes in the future. Meanwhile, DEI practitioners have grappled with job losses, questions about their function, and personal attacks amid a barrage of misinformation.

Still, the DEI leaders who spoke with HR Brew remain hopeful for progress, even if it looks different.

 Diversity and inclusion initiatives started gaining traction decades before 2020. In 1987, Roosevelt Thomas Jr., a scholar at Morehouse College, predicted that diversity programs would be essential to business success, and that company cultures must be designed for 

But by the mid-2010s, the US was still struggling with racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination, and representation: Women held just 25% of senior executive roles, while Black leaders held just 3.2%. By the end of the decade, chief diversity officer roles had expanded to include language around belonging, though some practitioners feared it would dilute their work, the Washington Post 

. Some analysts even predicted “diversity fatigue” would set in.

The work was grueling and emotionally demanding, often falling on the shoulders of those most affected by it, leading to high turnover rates among diversity chiefs, HR Brew 

When Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd in May 2020, more than 270 companies including McDonald’s, Meta, and Walmart responded with racial equity pledges and billions of dollars of investments in diversity initiatives. Job postings for DEI practitioners doubled. But the effectiveness of these efforts, and leadership buy-in, was mixed.

Some executives seemingly expected the corporate landscape to change overnight, while others emphasized it would take years to reverse the underrepresentation of women, people of color, the disabled, and other minorities.

The data says as much: A 2024 LeanIn report estimated it would take at least 22 more years for white women, and at least 44 years for women of color, to achieve gender parity in corporate America. And a 

 of 84,000 job applications found that workers with more traditionally Black names were less likely to land interviews.

As quickly as DEI’s popularity came, it seemed to fade. In May 2022, 44% of workers said they felt “alienated” by, and 42% resented, DEI efforts, according to a Gartner survey that HR Brew reported on at the time.

Employers began reigning in diversity and HR teams, while practitioners started sounding alarms, calling some investments and commitments performative.

“Genuine inclusion, not performative diversity, will accelerate growth for people-first companies. All others will see their ability to attract and retain talent globally extinguished,” Donald Knight, former chief people officer at Greenhouse, 

In August 2023, just after the SCOTUS decision to strike down affirmative action in college admissions, some conservative activists ran social media campaigns against DEI, while attorneys general in several GOP-lead states threatened companies over DEI practices. At first, the industry brushed it off as “fearmongering.”

“You will always have a subset, for example, of employees, who just for whatever their belief systems are, they push back,” Chandra Robinson, director of HR at Gartner, 

 HR Brew at the time. Experts warned of negative consequences, like issues with employee retention, for ditching DEI.

By early 2024, some companies had cut DEI programming and removed “diversity” from public documents in favor of language like, “belonging,” “inclusion,” and “cultural transformation.” SHRM, for example, removed the “E” from its DEI programming, and America First Legal, a conservative firm founded by White House aide Stephen Miller, filed multiple lawsuits against companies over their DEI efforts (many were dismissed). The anti-DEI messaging became a rallying cry in the 2024 election cycle, as political actors used it to diminish the work and accomplishments of minorities, including Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

“People are using DE&I as a slur in the hopes that people will legitimize it and then run away from DEI work,” Lily Zheng, a fairness strategist and author, 

Since Trump returned to office in January, attacks on DEI initiatives have only accelerated, via executive orders, threats from the Department of Justice, and new guidance from the Department of Labor. Some employers seem to have engaged in even more “diversity hushing,” pursuing the essence of DEI without publicly labeling it as such.

“I don’t think that we’ve experienced, since 1964 collectively, this pull back retrenchment,” said Albert Smith Jr., founder of DEI consultancy en masse Consulting who has worked in the field for over a decade. “We have been on the slow and gradual trajectory towards a more perfect union. And I don’t know if we’ve ever experienced the clawing back of so many rights the way that we’re witnessing them right now.”

Smith added that DEI opponents are using civil rights strategies to roll back progress. “They are only taking our tools and using them.”

 Some advocates admit DEI hasn’t been perfect, noting it can be performative and hasn’t done enough to meaningfully change corporate culture. However, this moment may be an opportunity to right the ship, according to seasoned practitioners.

Most companies (66%) still have dedicated DEI budgets, but many industry leaders (43%) report making “substantive” changes this year, 

 DEI consultancy Paradigm. Rosa Nuñez, a DEI practitioner who has spent more than two decades in the field, says she expects companies will continue many DEI practices because they’re essential to reduce discrimination and keep talent.

“You have some organizations that have pulled back, but I don’t believe it is a full pullback,” she said. “They’re not being as public about their efforts, but a lot of those organizations that do really care about the work. They’re doing it in-house in a way that is not distracting.”

While Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general at the DOJ, 

, “either DEI will end on its own or we will kill it,” the practitioners who spoke with HR Brew believe the essence of DEI will survive.

Smith is also hopeful for the continuation of workplace equality efforts. “We’re going through this civil war right now, and we’re hopeful that on the other side of this moment are brighter days,” he told HR Brew.

Ronald Taylor, a diversity executive who has been in the field since the 1990s, said while diversity efforts have always seen some pushback, the current administration has made public attacks acceptable.

“That gives me hope, because I think then we can be like, ‘Okay, no more closeted attack on diversity in corporate,” he said. “You’re gonna throw the kitchen sink at us in this last vain, desperate attempt to make us go away and we're not going anywhere….it’s gonna be dirty, it’s gonna be ugly.”

Regardless of the public discourse, Zheng thinks most Americans believe workplaces should have fair hiring practices and treat workers well, and want an employer that is committed to DEI, according to a 

 from the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at the NYU School of Law. Zheng said this gives them hope that diversity efforts will continue.

“We all want workplaces and products and services that we can access. These are universals,” they said. “So long as people and workers want this, there will be people doing it.”

In an ideal world, Nuñez said, we wouldn’t need DEI. But “the reality is that we are the most diverse and the most divided nation right now, and the disparities in the inequalities and inequities in the workplace continue.” In her opinion, DEI will exist as long as it’s necessary, no matter what it’s called.

“So long as companies align themselves with forces of exclusion, polarization, authoritarianism, they’re going to drift further and further away from what people actually want,” Zheng said. “There will be a pendulum swing back.”

DEI initiatives will endure, despite how it’s been polarized

Dozens of companies have changed course on DEI in 2025, but industry leaders believe the pivot will still turn towards progress.

DEI practitioners express hope for the future of workplace inclusion

SHRM has taken controversial stances on several issues in recent years. Now, in a move that’s angered many HR and DEI professionals, the organization announced it will welcome conservative extremist, conspiracy theorist, and anti-DEI, anti-LGBTQ+ activist Robby Starbuck to speak on the main stage of its inclusion conference, Blueprint, in October.

SHRM hosted its first DEI conference nearly 30 years ago. Originally called the Workplace Diversity Conference, it was rebranded (again) in July to seemingly distance itself from its DEI roots, HR Brew previously 

DEI leaders have since shared their concerns about the rebrand online, including worries that SHRM is erasing the work that the conference was built on.

Now that Starbuck is set to take the main stage for a DEI debate with media personality and former political strategist Van Jones, many DEI practitioners feel that SHRM has lost the plot.

 Starbuck is a former movie producer who entered politics in 2022. After a failed run for Congress, he became a conservative influencer. He has publicly espoused misinformation about Covid-19 and the great replacement theory (which many scholars agree is a racist conspiracy theory), and believes that DEI is inherently discriminatory (however, DEI is 

, when programs are designed properly). He also regularly spreads hateful rhetoric about the LGBTQ+ community, has attacked the Human Rights Campaign and drag shows, and made a movie that uses misinformation to falsely claim that the LGBTQ+ movement grooms children.

Some of his anti-DEI campaigns have succeeded. Tractor Supply, Walmart, Nissan, McDonald’s, and Ford are among the corporations that he says he’s gotten to backtrack on DEI. “DEI is poison and we won’t rest until the public knows how companies have strayed from American values,” Starbuck posted on X last year.

 Starbuck as its AI advisor, after he sued the company for its AI chatbot, claiming it defamed him. He’s also a visiting fellow at the conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation.

 HR professionals from various industries took to LinkedIn to decry SHRM for giving Starbuck a platform on their stage, calling it just the latest in a pattern. Its CEO, Johnny C. Taylor, who chaired two advisory boards for President Trump during his first administration, announced the organization was 

 “equity” from its DEI language last summer. SHRM had previously faced a discrimination lawsuit and 

“If anything, I’d be interested to know why so many HR professionals still trust/follow SHRM,” Daniela Herrera, a workplace culture and DEI consultant, said on LinkedIn. “They’ve shown us who they are multiple times.”

There were more than 80 replies to HR Brew’s 

 about Starbuck speaking at Blueprint, and almost all disagreed with the move. DEI and HR professionals responded to say they don’t understand the point of the conversation, or why Starbuck has any authority to speak about DEI in the workplace. Starbuck has never worked in HR, compliance, or law, has never led a team, and is not an expert in civil rights laws.

“I struggle to see how this will result in productive discourse and not just frustration and finger-pointing. After SHRM already backed down from many of its DEI initiatives in the face of political pressure, this doesn’t seem like a positive shift in a good direction,” Chris Fitzpatrick, a talent development expert, commented.

For its part, SHRM claims it’s giving Starbuck this platform in the name of hearing both sides out.

“Viewpoint diversity is one of the major, but often under-discussed, dimensions of workplace diversity. At SHRM, we are committed to fostering inclusive, respectful dialogue by engaging a broad spectrum of perspectives—including those of Van Jones and Robby Starbuck—to reflect the diverse viewpoints that shape our nation and the world of work,” Taylor said in a written statement to HR Brew. “By convening leaders from across the political, cultural, and business spectrum, we aim to broaden understanding, spark innovation, and drive actionable solutions for an inclusive workplace.”

However, several professionals believe that this will not be an honest conversation over different opinions, and that the organization is platforming hate, noting that there were potentially other conservative voices SHRM could have invited that wouldn’t spread misinformation.

“You can’t platform an individual who is open[ly] hateful to minority groups and expect to retain any sort of legitimacy with reputable HR professionals,” one talent recruiter and social impact professional commented. “If any of his rhetoric was whispered in a corporate setting, he’d be under HR investigation.”

A person stands with arms crossed next to the SHRM logo and DEI with the E crossed out.

DEI leaders sound off on SHRM

Professionals responded after SHRM announced that anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck would take the main stage at its inclusion conference, Blueprint.

DEI and HR leaders are mad at SHRM (again)

Wells Fargo appears to have quietly rebranded its public-facing DEI language earlier this summer, completely eliminating all diversity language, HR Brew found while comparing the current version of the company’s site to a previous version, recovered through an archival site.

The company’s website now refers to the program as “inclusion and accessibility” and features a host of other changes.

In February, Wells Fargo said it would no longer require hiring managers to consider a diverse slate of candidates for upper-level positions, but that appeared to be the only major change to its DEI programming, Bloomberg 

. (On August 15, protesters demanded the company reinstate the requirement, along with its environmental commitments, according to 

That same month, Wells Fargo also appeared to remove from its website a section on the company’s long history with diversity and inclusion, which honored its work with the first national organization for lesbians, its support for Japanese-Americans held in US concentration camps, and its Spanish-language support, which dates back to the 1800s.

Then, at the end of May, Wells Fargo’s DEI landing page, sub-page, and related content disappeared from its website. While the company had used to display openly text about advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, touting its annual DEI report, racial equity assessment and pay equity analysis, that information has no longer appeared on its website; HR Brew recovered the deleted information through the Wayback Machine archival site.

The site also previously shared information on its DEI councils that were developed to “support our lines of business and international leaders to help implement programs and initiatives,” but the company did not respond when asked if the councils still exist. Wells Fargo’s employee resource networks (often referred to as ERGs) appear to be active and information on them is still available.

Ebony Thomas, who was named head of DEI in May 2024, still oversees Wells Fargo’s DEI efforts, according to her LinkedIn. However, the company appears to have publicly kept aspects of DEI that 

 believe could be less risky, including recruiting veterans and military spouses, supporting disabled workers, and its Neurodiversity Program, which was established in 2020.

, when Wells Fargo called DEI “a business imperative.” Still, the company has had previous struggles with DEI. In 2022, it came under fire for a performative diversity hiring policy that led to fake interviews, the New York Times 

. Its CEO, Charles Scharf, had also been criticized for 

 he made in 2020 about finding Black talent.

Wells Fargo did not respond to requests for comment.

Wells Fargo quietly deleted its DEI page and reports

The company rebranded its DEI efforts to focus on inclusion, and neurodiversity, disability, and veteran communities.

Cracker Barrel, the largely Southern food chain with more than 650 locations and 70,000 employees, caused an uproar last week when it changed its logo. While many consumers were quick to blame DEI, the backlash may reflect the polarization of the country, according to one expert.

 You may be familiar with the old Cracker Barrel logo, which featured an older gentleman leaning against a barrel.

Enter, new branding, released on Aug. 18, in conjunction with the company’s “All the More” campaign with country star Jordan Davis.

No barrel. No man. Just “Cracker Barrel” in a bland font against the same gold background. The restaurants are getting a new look, too: grey walls that are more “sad millennial home” than “old-school country kitchen,” with more modern furniture and lighting. But Cracker Barrel promised to keep “the soul” of its restaurants, including the stone fireplaces, taxidermy deer heads, and rocking chairs.

 these changes last year as part of an effort to modernize and appeal to younger consumers as growth had largely stalled after 55 years in business.

Unfortunately, consumers were not happy, to say the least. People on the political right, including Donald Trump Jr., Ben Shapiro, and comedian Larry the Cable Guy, claimed the new logo was “woke” and a result of DEI. Others said it was boring and disconnected from Cracker Barrel’s Southern roots.

The online commentary soon led to real-world consequences: Cracker Barrel’s stock quickly plunged, losing almost $100 million in market value in less than a week, CBS News 

 Conservative activist Robby Starbuck in part blamed Gilbert Dávila, a member of Cracker Barrel’s board of directors. Dávila, who joined the board in 2020 and spent more than 15 years working in multicultural marketing at the Walt Disney Company and Sears, owns a DEI consulting business.

Others blamed the changes on the company’s CEO, Julie Felss Masino, and her “

” Masino took over in 2023, and although her politics are unclear, she’s not new to the industry, previously spending time in leadership at Taco Bell, Sprinkles Cupcakes, and Starbucks.

Even before the rebrand, Cracker Barrel had been under fire from anti-DEI talking heads, after America First Legal, a conservative group founded by Stephen Miller, filed an EEOC complaint earlier this summer over the company’s DEI policies.

Lily Zheng, an organizational fairness consultant, told HR Brew that the Cracker Barrel situation isn’t really about DEI, but rather another example of the “us against them” mentality dividing the nation. “Every single thing that happens, be it small or large in popular culture, is now being jumped upon as a tool of political polarization to pick sides,” they said.

For DEI leaders feeling even more pressure as yet another brand unintentionally enters the political fray, Zheng had this to say: “You stay focused on exactly what you’re doing for a living, and communicate like your profession depends on it, which it does,” noting that DEI leaders must know how to defend their work. “Ensuring fair hiring practices; ensuring non-discrimination. I can defend those things every single day of the week to anyone who accuses me of stuff.”

“This kind of idea that some cabal of DEI people are running around out here woke-a-fying logos is…completely disconnected from reality,” Zheng added.

Cracker Barrel responded to the backlash on Aug. 25, 

 it may have missed the mark. While the company initially stuck by the logo change, it backtracked on Aug. 26, shortly after President Trump weighed in, Yahoo 

. “We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our 'Old Timer' will remain,” a new statement read, prompting praise from the president and a jump in Cracker Barrel’s stock.

DEI