Have large companies ditched their DEI goals?

Following up on yesterday’s blog riffing off a Teneo report, here is a related one from Teneo called “DEI Will Survive.” Here is an excerpt:
Have Companies Ditched their DEI Goals?
A little under half (43%) of the S&P 500 continues to maintain and promote quantitative, time-bound DEI goals within their sustainability reports, with almost 80% of these goals remaining unchanged from last year. The most common are representation goals, present in one-third of companies, followed by supplier diversity goals (14%). 23% of reports also note other DEI goals such as goals for hiring from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and for investing in under-represented communities.
Given the criticism of DEI goals as discriminatory following the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in higher education, the four-percentage point decrease in disclosure year-on-year is not surprising. Of the 250 companies analyzed, 24 omitted specific DEI goals from their disclosures, including 16 related to diverse representation, nine on supplier diversity and seven tied to diverse community investments. Conversely, 13 companies introduced new DEI goals, including eight on representation, two on supplier diversity and six on broader initiatives such as HBCU recruiting efforts and pay equity.