2025 has been dubbed by many as the year of the DEI backlash. To what extent have right-wing populism, Trump’s executive orders and the economic crisis affected DEI management?
To the outside world, companies like SAP, Roche, UBS and Novartis once appeared to be pioneers in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). That changed in the spring of 2025. US President Donald Trump demanded in several executive orders that all companies – especially those that work with the US government – stop their DEI activities because they were “outrageous and discriminatory.”
The companies in question, whose market is large in the USA, met the requirement to some extent: For example, SAP eliminated the women’s quota and brought the DEI team together with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department. At the same time, other companies where the US market played a smaller role, such as Union Investment, remained steadfast. What has really happened in DEI management in German companies in 2025?
