MW As banks retreat from DEI, Citi is making these changes to its diversity and hiring practices

By Bill Peters

Citigroup says it will no longer require 'diverse slates of candidates and diverse panels of interviewers'

Since President Trump returned to the White House, major Wall Street firms have joined corporate America in increasingly backing away from their previous diversity, equity and inclusion commitments.

On Thursday, $Citigroup Inc(C-N)$. (C) became the latest to take part in the trend.

The bank on Thursday said it would pull back from its DEI plans - saying it would end representational workforce goals, change the name of its DEI team and end some diversity-related standards in its hiring process.

In announcing the changes, Citi became the latest major corporation to retreat from DEI goals, as Trump seeks to end the practice in the public and private sectors and directs government agencies to scrutinize companies still following such goals.

Citi, in a memo on Thursday, said it would no longer have "aspirational representation goals except as required by local law," and that its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Talent Management team will be renamed "Talent Management and Engagement."

It also said it would no longer require "diverse slates of candidates and diverse panels of interviewers" in its hiring process. But it said it would "still encourage the best practice of having a variety of perspectives included in hiring decisions and continue sourcing talent from the broadest available pools."

"We are steadfast in our commitment to maintaining a workplace where every colleague feels included because that is what allows everyone to contribute their best to Citi," Chief Executive Jane Fraser said in the memo.

She added: "The recent changes in U.S. federal government policy, including new requirements that apply to all federal contractors, call for changes to some of the global strategies and programs we've used to attract and support colleagues from various backgrounds."

Fraser also said that "we're living in an environment where things are changing quickly. We will determine if additional updates are needed to other areas in the coming weeks. For example, certain business-specific initiatives and our supplier efforts need further evaluation before we have clarity about the responsible path forward."

Other big financial firms on Wall Street - whose workforces have long been criticized for being too white and too male - have also pulled back on DEI.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Citi, Morgan Stanley $(MS)$ and JPMorgan Chase & Co. $(JPM)$ were deleting or softening public statements regarding diversity. $Bank of America Corp(BAC-N)$. $(BAC.SI)$ and Wells Fargo & Co. $(WFC)$ were also scrutinizing such statements, the Journal said. According to reports last week, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. $(GS)$ has scrapped a policy that required some degree of diversity on a company's board before the bank would help it with an initial public offering.

Meanwhile, according to a Bloomberg story last week, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank would reduce some of its diversity-related spending.

Dimon, during a townhall meeting, said the bank's commitments to Black, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ populations hadn't changed, according to the report. But he said the company had probably taken on some initiatives that cost too much.

"I was never a firm believer in bias training," Dimon said, according to a recording of the meeting heard by Bloomberg. "I saw how we were spending money on some of this stupid s-, and it really pissed me off. I'm just gonna cancel them. I don't like wasted money in bureaucracy."

JPMorgan did not immediately respond to request for comment from MarketWatch.

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission said it planned to investigate Comcast Corp. $(CMCSA)$ and its NBCUniversal subsidiary over its DEI programs.

-Bill Peters

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February 21, 2025 16:33 ET (21:33 GMT)

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