- KPMG US joined other Big Four firms in pulling back on DEI initiatives, per an internal memo seen by BI.
- Its US arm is ending a strategy intended to recruit and retain staff from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Paul Knopp, chair and CEO of KPMG US, told staff it remained “unwavering” in its commitment to inclusivity.
KPMG US has ended a DEI talent strategy that was set up amid the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, becoming the latest Big Four professional services firm to roll back diversity initiatives since Donald Trump’s reelection.
“The legal landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts has been shifting, via executive orders and in the courts,” Paul Knopp, chair and CEO of KPMG US, told US partners and employees in a memo sent on February 14 and seen by Business Insider.
Knopp said that KPMG US would bring its “Accelerate 2025” program to a close and reevaluate “associated programming and talent initiatives.”
A person familiar with the matter said the firm would end its use of forward-looking metric-based aspirations based on protected categories such as race or gender.
KPMG has also removed annual DEI transparency reports that tracked progress on diversity from its website. A person familiar with the matter said the firm was making sure that the website accurately reflected current policies and programs.
The changes were first reported by The Financial Times.
Knopp told the US workforce that the firm remained “unwavering in our commitment to fairness and inclusivity.”
Launched in 2020, KPMG’s Accelerate 2025 strategy aimed to boost diversity in recruitment and retention. The aim was to help the firm reach a target of having 50% of managing partners and managing directors from underrepresented backgrounds by 2025.
KPMG’s financial year, and the point at which it measures earnings and progress data, ends on September 30.
Knopp presented the strategy in a LinkedIn post published on Juneteenth in 2020, saying that Accelerate 2025 would help ensure “the firm and the firm’s leaders look a lot more like America.”
“We also commit to publishing relevant information so that our people and the public can hold our feet to the fire,” he said.
A report that remains available on KPMG’s website states that in September 2023, 45.3% of US partners and managing directors came from under-represented groups such as women, racial minorities, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
In January 2024, Knopp told Quartz that “24% of our partners are women. Only a little more than 2% are Black. We’re not at the same level of representation in the country for Black and Latino/Latina Americans — we’re not even close.”
KPMG declined to comment.
KPMG
KPMG joins a growing list of major companies, many of whom expanded diversity initiatives following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, that are now rolling back on DEI in line with changes introduced by the Trump administration.
On his first day in office, the president signed an executive order to end diversity programs across the federal government and ordered all federal DEI staffers to be placed on leave while their departments were disbanded.
Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, instructed the Department of Justice to “investigate, eliminate, and penalize” any “illegal” DEI programs at private sector companies and universities that receive federal funds.
“We will continue to uphold the highest ethical standards and fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including adherence to the executive orders affecting us as a federal contractor,” Knopp said in the memo.
KPMG receives $406 million annually through its contracts with federal agencies, over half of which are with the Department of Defense.
A KPMG US employee, who did not want to be named as they were not permitted to speak to the media, said that Knopp’s memo “hasn’t really been a point of frustration.”
“They’ve done a really good job of hosting Q&As and trying to reassure people who think this is going to not be inclusive anymore,” the person said.
Fellow Big Four competitor Deloitte has also scrapped DEI programs, telling staff in an internal memo that the changes were made “to remain fully compliant with federal laws.”
Do you work at KPMG or another consulting firm? Contact this reporter in confidence at pthompson@businessinsider.com or on Signal at Polly_Thompson.89
