Anti-woke sentiment creeps into workplaces as views on DEI start to sour, research shows

financialpost.com:

It wasn’t so long ago that diversity, equity and inclusion were the hallmarks of the modern workplace, with companies investing in programs to promote the fair and equitable treatment of its employees.

However, it appears workers’ opinions on such measures have become more negative over the past year, according to a survey by Pew Research Center.

Workers in the United States are now somewhat more likely to say that increasing DEI at work is mainly a bad thing. Workers also feel that their company or organization pays too much attention to increasing DEI.

Pew Research said the number of workers who think increasing DEI at work is mainly a positive thing has decreased to 52 per cent from 56 per cent in February 2023. The share of workers who say it is a bad thing is up five percentage points to 21 per cent since last year. About a quarter say focusing on DEI is neither good nor bad.

Women, Democrats and Black, Hispanic and Asian workers are most likely to say DEI in the workplace is a good thing. Men and Republicans believe the opposite and are most likely to see DEI efforts as a bad thing, with 42 per cent sharing this sentiment, up from 30 per cent last year. The share of Republicans who offer a neutral view has dropped eight points.

In the past year, Asian workers have also become less likely to see DEI as a good thing, with only slightly more than half (52 per cent) approving of the efforts, down from 72 per cent.

The survey also found that a growing share of workers say their company pays too much attention to increasing DEI.

Pew Research conducted a separate survey in which it asked Americans, regardless of their employment status, whether DEI practices helped certain groups of workers more than it hurt them.