McKinsey to keep diversity on the agenda
McKinsey & Company has pledged to keep its diversity goals in place, according to a memo from global managing partner Bob Sternfels. That comes despite pressure on US firms to ditch DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).
This renewed commitment from the Big 4 firm comes despite a strong push from US President Donald Trump’s administration for private firms to scrap DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies. A series of executive orders signed by Trump took aim at DEI within the government, but also at private companies that work with the government.
The move from McKinsey also comes despite other top consulting firms scrapping their DEI policies in line with the new political climate in the US. The memo stresses that McKinsey will continue to strive for diversity while also emphasizing meritocracy, or in other words, hiring based on merits and not on a candidate’s degree or socioeconomic background.
“We will continue to boldly pursue both, because these two things together – our diverse meritocracy – is what makes us distinctive and has defined who we are over our nearly 100 years,” the memo states.
The move is in contrast with how other consultancies have been responding to the new Trump directives. Accenture, for example, announced it will be ending its diversity goals and will stop using them to measure employees’ performance.
The attack on DEI has somewhat divided the business world, with some firms complying with Trump’s directives and others sticking with their existing goals. For example, Costco, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs are a few other companies standing by their DEI policies, while Google, Amazon, Walmart, and many other large US organizations have decided to scale back theirs.
The memo stresses that McKinsey, which has around 40,000 staff around the world, has focused on fostering a ‘diverse meritocracy’ since its founding in 1926 in Chicago. That means, among other things, hiring inexperienced graduates and candidates with experience in diverse set of different fields.
“As we turn 100, it’s our time to recommit to being proudly diverse and proudly meritocratic,” said Sternfels.
“We don’t guarantee equity in outcomes, but we do strive to ensure everyone has a fair shot to succeed in our meritocracy,” the memo continued. Sternfel also stressed that the firm would “continue to follow the law in the US and other countries.”
Part of the reason for why McKinsey may fear the Trump administration’s crusade less than other major firms could be because of fewer contracts with the US federal government when compared with other large consultancies like for example, Accenture, which has an entire subsidiary that handles them. In fact, McKinsey’s revenue from prime US federal contracts in FY2023 fell to its lowest level in 10 years.
But even though McKinsey may now have fewer contracts with the US government than before, it still has a huge amount of revenue linked to the US government, which makes this recent announcement on diversity fairly risky. There is clearly a lot at stake considering the dynamic and volatile political atmosphere in the US.
Around half of McKinsey’s revenue comes from its business in North America with governments and large businesses. In addition to that, the consultancy reportedly earned around $480 million from its consulting contracts with the US military over the past 17 years.
