KPMG US deletes diversity reports from website

KPMG US has removed years of reports on its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from its website, as the Big Four firm becomes the latest consultancy seeking to align with President Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders.

KPMG has deleted the annual transparency reports that since 2020 have tracked progress on efforts to advance underrepresented groups. The last published figures from 2023 showed that 45.3% of US partners and managing directors came from underrepresented groups such as women, minorities, and LGBT – up from 39.3% in 2020.

In an email obtained by the Financial Times, CEO Paul Knopp told the firm’s 40,000 employees that it would be closing the Accelerate 2025 program, which aimed to have 50% of partners and managing directors coming from underrepresented groups.

Knopp cited a shift in the DEI legal landscape caused by recent executive orders, and that the firm – as a federal contractor – would align with those executive orders.

President Donald Trump, on the day following his inauguration, ordered federal contractors to pledge they did not have DEI policies that violated anti-discrimination laws.

KPMG US rakes in approximately $400 million in annual fees from federal contracts, mostly from the Department of Defense.

Deloitte and Accenture, two other large federal contractors, have also scrapped their DEI programs in recent weeks to align with the executive orders.

McKinsey, on the other hand, has pledged to retain its DEI goals.