For years, but especially after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, CEOs kept reassuring Americans that efforts around diversity, inclusion, and workplace culture weren't just window dressing.
At least that's how things now seem, multiple people who work in corporate diversity told Insider.
He said the layoffs hitting diversity departments would do "long-term damage" to corporate America and showed CEOs' "empty promise" to bring change to their companies.
The layoffs sweeping Big Tech and unfolding in some other industries are hitting the departments designed to make American companies more diverse.
This puts corporate America's progress in this effort at risk, people in DEI told Insider.