Resend: The Intersection 2/22

Quick summary:

 Federal and corporate jobs are under scrutiny thanks to the Trump regime, and advocacy organizations are feeling the heat. Now while some are warning of the damage to companies, others are preparing their membership for worst-case scenarios.

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Hey, y’all,

In the month since Donald Trump took office, it’s been hard to focus on any one thing that has come down as a result of his administration’s punitive policies. If it wasn’t DOGE hacking sensitive information, it’s been plane crashes in the wake of firings of key FAA staff, or immigrants being terrorized by the push to get rid of anyone who speaks Spanish, or fears of inflation since the price of eggs keeps rising.But for many Americans, massive rollbacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government have been top of mind, especially as companies in the private sector followed suit. According to USAFacts.org, more than 18 percent of the federal workforce was African American in a 2023 report, and Hispanic Americans rose to 9.5 percent (it should be noted, however, because of new federal policies, that report is no longer available on the Office of Personnel Management website, but can be found thanks to the efforts of Archive.org and others).The rollbacks are a particular concern among those who find positions through professional organizations that serve as networks to feed talented prospects to government agencies and large corporations — along with those who advocate for diversity in employment.Agencies and companies seeking to find qualified candidates will feel the strain sooner rather than later, despite the widely debunked suggestion that only white men are qualified. Take St. Louis, where companies such as Boeing are heavy employers=. That company quietly sunset its DEI program in late 2024 as the writing on the wall became more clear that the federal government would be frowning on the very concept of diversity. Among the results: the resignation of Sara Liang Bowen, the company’s chief inclusion officer.Ronald Moore, director of the Pre-College Initiative for the National Society of Black Engineers St. Louis Gateway chapter, said that many of the members of his organization who work in government and for large companies like Boeing are winding down their careers, but other members are in probationary periods and when they lose their jobs, that can create a gap of institutional knowledge.