Opinion

The skills business leaders need to navigate DEI backlash

The ability to build common ground will be critical for any business looking to create resilient and cohesive teams that thrive.

Sandra PeterBusiness academic

Jan 17, 2025 – 1.56pm

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Last week, Meta and Amazon announced that they’re scaling back their diversity initiatives. This follows similar decisions around diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from Walmart, Toyota, and McDonald’s a few months ago.

The DEI rethink we’re witnessing is one display of a bigger shift impacting our workplaces and our world. The 2025 Skills Horizon research initiative, which I and my co-authors prepared, explores the five shifts that are contributing to what we call a “decade of disorientation”.

Sandra Peter is director of Sydney Executive Plus and associate professor at the University of Sydney Business School.