Dive Brief:
- BlackRock told its employees Friday that it would no longer pursue “aspirational workforce representation goals,” according to a memo sent by the firm’s CEO Larry Fink, president Robert Kapito, and global head of human resources Caroline Heller.
- The asset manager’s prior representation goals expired last year, and the company said it will not renew them, according to the Feb. 28 memo posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, by Senior Fox Business Correspondent Charles Gasparino. BlackRock — the nation’s largest asset manager — will also merge its diversity, equity and inclusion and talent management teams into a new “talent and culture” department.
- “We operate in one of the most highly regulated industries globally and are committed to following the law in every respect,” the memo said. “Recently, there have been a number of significant changes to the U.S. legal and policy environment related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) that apply to many companies, including BlackRock.”
Dive Insight:
Following his inauguration in January, President Donald Trump issued a number of executive orders aimed at overturning his predecessor’s DEI legacy and targeting private sector DEI programs. A federal judge recently blocked parts of Trump’s orders targeting DEI, including portions of the private sector order, in a Feb. 21 preliminary injunction.
Since the executive orders, a number of public and private companies have altered their DEI policies to bring them into compliance, including a number of banks in the past few weeks. A BlackRock spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the posted memo from BlackRock CEO Fink, President Kapito and Global Head of Human Resources Heller on Monday to ESG Dive.
“Our connected and inclusive culture is imperative to achieving our commercial objectives and delivering performance for our clients,” the memo said. “As the law changes, we will adapt.”
The combined talent and culture team will be co-led by BlackRock’s Global Head of Talent Management Nick Avery and Director and Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Michelle Gadsden-Williams, according to the memo. As part of the changes, hiring managers will no longer be required to interview “a diverse slate of candidates for open positions.” Though, the memo said that the firm will “continue welcoming diverse talent from around the world.”
“Our talent and culture are what set BlackRock apart. Delivering for clients requires attracting the best people from across the world,” Fink, Kapito and Heller wrote. “We are committed to creating a culture that welcomes diverse people and perspectives to foster creative solutions and avoid groupthink.”
The announced changes are part of an “ongoing review” to its programs following the Trump orders, the memo said. The firm will continue to support its employee networks.
In 2020, BlackRock had set goals to increase its number of U.S. Black and Latinx employees by 30% and double the number of U.S. Black and Latinx leaders by 2024, according to a 2022 BlackRock disclosure.
While the firm continues to display the makeup of its workforce on the new Global Talent and Culture page, BlackRock has removed a representation breakdown of new hires — archived by the Wayback Machine — that was previously displayed on a page titled “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” The DEI page included much of the same information now housed on the talent and culture landing page.
A December snapshot of BlackRock’s DEI page, revealed that as of Jan. 1, 2024, more than 47% of global new hires at the firm were women and women made up more than 35% of new senior leader hires globally. BlackRock said in the U.S., 31% of its new hires identified as Asian, nearly 16% hires were Latinx and 11% were Black employees.
As of this January, BlackRock has 43.8% women employees globally and 33.1% of global directors or above are women, according to the firm’s talent and culture page. Additionally, the firm reported that 28.4% of its U.S. employees identify as Asian, 8.2% identify as Latinx and 8% identify as Black.
