Is the push for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) coming to an end simply because Donald Trump wants it that way? Some major US corporations, including Facebook's parent company Meta, Google's Alphabet, carmaker Ford and coffee giant Starbucks, have already scaled back their diversity programs.

Several European companies that do business with the US have also been asked to confirm on questionnaires that they no longer support or engage in DEI programs.

In Germany, the first companies are starting to fold, with carmaker Volkswagen (VW) and telecom giant Deutsche Telekom announcing plans to either scale back or end their diversity initiatives in the US. Software maker SAP has walked away from gender quotas in Germany.

Are these isolated cases? A flash survey conducted at the end of April by Germany's largest employer initiative committed to DEI goals, Charta der Vielfalt (Charter of Diversity), offered some hope. More than 6,000 companies and institutions have so far signed the charter, of which 100 were polled. About 90% of them said they intended to continue their DEI programs unchanged.

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Cawa Younosi, managing director of the initiative,........

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