Our current state: Updates on our progress
Introduction
Deloitte’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy has three principles that are at the core of change: (1) systemic evolution of core processes and operations is pivotal to advancing equity, (2) both small and big shifts in individual hearts, minds, and behaviors are foundational to achieving equitable outcomes, and (3) accountability goes hand in hand with transparency and trust.
Deloitte reinforces our commitment to equity by holding ourselves accountable to openly sharing our progress against our aspirations. In the 2021 Deloitte DEI Transparency Report, we established 13 aspirational goals1 to increase diversity and inclusion in our workforce, catalyze the growth of diverse businesses, and advance equity in society by 2025. Since the launch of that report, we have made significant progress toward a number of these goals.
As of the end of FY2023,2 we surpassed our goals for increasing Black and Hispanic/Latinx3 headcount; increasing the racial and/or ethnic diversity of the partner, principal, and managing director (PPMD) population; and increasing female representation two years ahead of the 2025 estimated timeline. Our people doubled down on allyship and our inclusive culture—participating in conferences at historic rates, joining history and heritage month celebrations, and engaging in new DEI learning experiences about how to be an effective ally. We continued to exceed our annual total spend goals for diverse suppliers and to expand access to economic opportunity through workforce development and education opportunities.
While our progress has been encouraging, we must acknowledge where we still have work to do. We have anticipated that there will be variance in representation and other key metrics year over year. In FY2023, we saw drops (0.4% or less) in our Black, Asian, and Middle Eastern/North African/Near Eastern workforce representation. We believe these decreases were influenced by multiple factors. Changes to how professionals self-identify impact representation and are expected year to year as professionals reflect on their identities. Additionally, the balance of recruitment and attrition impacts both representation and total headcount of these identities within our organization. A continued focus on recruitment and retention of these cohorts will be critical to achieving our FY2025 goals.
Additionally, Black, LGBTQIA+, and nonbinary professionals reported feeling less likely to bring their authentic selves to work in FY2023. There are varied internal and external factors that may have influenced progress against our engagement goals, including workforce attrition rates, broader societal discourse on diversity, equity, and inclusion holistically, and an external social environment where LGBTQIA+ professionals may feel less secure about being themselves at work. While the drop in positive responses was small, we continue to monitor the difference between Black, LGTBQIA+, and non-binary professionals with the responses of the overall population. We believe we must continue instilling a sense of inclusion and belonging among these cohorts through vehicles like our national communities and allyship education for all team leaders and professionals, to reduce the variance between these groups and the total workforce.
Though we have made advancements with our diverse supplier goals, we continue to focus on efforts to help us grow our Black-led and Black-owned spend. Annual progress against this goal is as expected; however, to achieve our FY2025 goals, additional diligence will be needed to reach $200 million in two years.
As we strive to create the culture and systems that help ensure everyone is empowered to thrive, three of our internal focus areas in the coming year are:
- Advancing equity: We are continuing to tackle potential challenges to inform system and process changes that support equitable recruitment, advancement, retention, engagement, and other experiences for our people.
- Engaging allies and strengthening sense of belonging: Because the sum of individual actions and behaviors fuels an inclusive culture, we are empowering our people with expanded tools, resources, and programming to learn, grow, and make meaningful connections with each other and our organization.
- Accelerating growth of diverse businesses: We continue to explore ways to expand support for diverse suppliers and businesses including growing our ecosystem of suppliers, helping to increase the capacity of our current suppliers, and monitoring the broader economic environment, which impacts Deloitte’s use of subcontractors.
We are committed to creating an environment that empowers, celebrates, and supports the unique backgrounds and identities of our people. For a full report on our progress against our 13 US goals, we invite you to explore this year’s update below.
- Goals are aspirations and not quotas. The policy of Deloitte US is to recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, color, religion, creed, citizenship, national origin, age, sex, gender, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, disability (including neurodivergence), genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis, in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local law. ↵
- FY2023 spans from May 29, 2022, through June 3, 2023. Note: For more on Deloitte fiscal years and our broad data methodology, please visit our Data methodology page. ↵
- In this report, we are using the gender-inclusive term Latinx, an alternative to Latino or Latina, referring to anyone born in or with ancestors from Latin America, regardless of whether that person speaks Spanish. We recognize this isn’t a term everyone favors for themselves. The way each person describes their identities is personal, and we encourage everyone to use the terms that most effectively capture their own identities, experiences, and cultures. ↵
A refresh on our goal progress
Goal 1: Increase the number of Black and Hispanic/Latinx professionals in our US workforce by 50% by 2025
54.2% increase in the number of Black and Hispanic/Latinx professionals since FY2020
Goal 2: Increase the overall racial and/or ethnic diversity of our US workforce to 48% by 2025
47% overall percentage of racial and/or ethnic diversity in Deloitte US workforce
Goal 3: Increase US workforce female representation to 45% by 2025
45.3% female representation in the Deloitte US workforce
Goal 4: Increase the representation of racially and/or ethnically diverse5 US partners, principals, and managing directors (PPMDs) to 25% by 2025
25.2% of our US PPMDs are racially and/or ethnically diverse
Goal 5: Increase the number of female US PPMDs by 25% by 2025
23.4% increase in the number of female US PPMDs since 2020
Goal 6: Address talent experience inconsistencies so that Black, Hispanic/Latinx, nonbinary, and LGBTQIA+ professionals feel they can be their authentic selves in the workplace at a rate consistent with the overall workforce by 2025
Goal 7: Develop an understanding of fundamental anti-racism concepts, and cultivate allyship and advocacy by providing DEI education across all levels by 2025
Goal 8: Increase the amount of addressable spend on diverse suppliers to $1B by 2025
$1.47B
Goal 9: Increase our spend with Black-owned and Black-led businesses to at least $200M by 2025
$75M /$200M
Goal 10: Collaborate with clients and industry leaders to drive workforce initiatives by 2025
Goal 11: Drive institutional and systemic change through policy initiatives by 2025
Goal 12: Reach 15 million individuals through education and workforce initiatives through WorldClass by 2030
Goal 13: Expand and evolve our mental health programs and resources that help address the needs of our various populations by 2025
- On the use of sex and gender: In this report, our goals and workforce data reflect sex because gender self-identification was not available at the time we established the goals in 2020. We recognize that not all people’s gender identities match their sex assigned at birth. In 2021, we launched new gender fields in addition to sex, with expanded self-identification options to reflect a wider array of gender identities. Goals and associated workforce data will be revisited during the refresh process. ↵
- Diverse racial and/or ethnic groups include Asian; Indigenous to the Americas; Black; Middle Eastern/North African/Near Eastern; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; multiracial; and professionals whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latinx. ↵
- Includes professionals who were promoted to managing director or admitted as a partner or principal. Does not include direct hires/admits. ↵
- List of National Communities as of FY2023. ↵
- A diverse supplier is a business that is at least 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a traditionally underrepresented or underserved group. Common classifications are small-business enterprises (SBEs), minority-owned enterprises (MBEs), and woman-owned enterprises (WBEs). ↵