“If what tech is doing is where everyone is headed, this can be scary for people who care about workplaces that are intentionally striving to create dynamics and conditions where humans of all different stripes can thrive,” says Heidi Brooks, a senior lecturer in organizational behavior at Yale School of Management.
It can take years to change a company’s culture, and given that most companies made D&I commitments just two years ago, employees in culture-change jobs were just beginning to get their footing. “I would expect they feel pretty undermined and concerned, having not yet had the time to produce real culture change,” says Brooks. She likens rebuilding talent functions after drastic cuts to returning to the gym after months without exercise.