I asked the Magic 8 Ball if DE&I will have a good 2024 and it told me, “Ask again later.”

But instead of going back to the Magic 8 Ball, I asked DE&I experts what other leaders should expect next year. The results? More of a “Reply hazy” than anything else.

Belt tightening. Many organizations reduced DE&I budgets in 2023, and Jarvis Sam, founder of the Rainbow Disruption, a DE&I consultancy, and former chief diversity officer at Nike and Snap, believes that trend will continue in 2024. “Organizations are trying to balance their approach to government and public affairs,” he explained. “That’s going to come at odds with each other, as the political landscape intensifies, and as we will see politicians particularly in more public, national and state debates, using DE&I as a lynchpin point of discussion and decision-making.”

Legal 🤝 DE&I. Experts believe that the industry will see more reverse discrimination lawsuits as a result of the politics associated with DE&I. Debra Steiner Friedman, a labor and employment attorney, believes the reverse discrimination cases could cause a shift in DE&I, as organizations may try to limit any litigation risks. “Employers will review their programs and policies in light of the US Supreme Court case,” she said, referencing affirmative action. “Employers may be less likely to tie compensation to meeting certain demographic metrics.”

Sam similarly explained that the industry, “will likely find a lot of organizations starting to tie into DE&I strategy much closer to legal offices in organizations than just HR offices, because that's where we’re starting to see the greatest amount of energy.”

Multi-generational workforce. Burgette White, country head of HR at recruiting firm Adecco, believes that the multi-generational workforce will be a larger focus for DE&I teams. Older workers are staying in the workforce longer. “That is also creating some complexity, but a healthy opportunity in the space as we continue to integrate in the multi-generational workforce because that is here to stay even longer than we might have anticipated,” she said.

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