White House study finds DEI policies hinder productivity and reduce US GDP in 2023.

XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey discusses why major brands are backing away from diversity-branded programs. The White House released a study on Monday that found DEI policies hinder productivity by leading to inefficient management that undercuts economic growth. The report's authors used federal data broken down by industry, state and year to track the representation of Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people in management roles, though the analysis did not cover gender, sexual orientation or Asian representation. The Wall Street Journal reported on the study first. The study found that the representation of these minority groups increased by less than 1% from 2005 to 2015, but then rose by nearly four times that amount from 2015 to 2023. It also found that industries pursuing DEI heavily by promoting minority managers were about 2.7% less productive than those that did not, as of 2023. By contrast, the increases among minority nonmanagers over the study period showed the productivity impact was not significantly different from zero. The White House report noted that these findings align with other studies showing that reductions in labor discrimination under the Civil Rights Act significantly increased productivity and GDP by improving the alignment of workers with jobs that suit their abilities. The study stated that reductions in discrimination were a boon to the U.S. economy, but the reimposition of discriminatory practices through DEI initiatives reversed some gains. It cautioned that DEI can inadvertently stigmatize qualified minority managers if they are viewed as DEI hires, a phenomenon noted in a 1993 report. Inspire Investing is targeting several major corporations in 2026 on DEI-related resolutions. The White House report noted these findings are similar to other studies showing that reducing labor market discrimination under the Civil Rights Act significantly increased productivity and GDP by better matching workers to jobs. The study also noted that the Trump administration's push to rollback DEI requirements and the reduced frequency of DEI references in regulatory filings and earnings calls may reflect litigation risks. In sum, American corporations have increasingly begun to roll back their DEI programs in response to a revival of American meritocracy under the Trump administration, curtailing DEI and the economic losses that came with it, according to the White House study.