Feb 7 (Reuters) - Accenture ( ACN ) has scrapped its

global diversity and inclusion goals after an evaluation of the

changing U.S. political landscape, according an internal memo

seen by Reuters.

The company will start "sunsetting" the diversity goals it

set in 2017, along with career development programs for "people

of specific demographic groups", said the memo from CEO Julie

Sweet.

Big Tech companies Meta, Alphabet and

Amazon ( AMZN ) are among a series of firms that had scrapped

their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals leading up to

and after Republican Donald Trump's return to the U.S.

presidency.

Sweet said Accenture's ( ACN ) policy change followed an "evaluation

of our internal policies and practices and the evolving

landscape in the United States, including recent executive

orders with which we must comply".

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has issued a

number of executive orders aimed at dismantling DEI programs

across the federal government and the private sector.

Along with rolling back Accenture's ( ACN ) DEI targets - which

Sweet said would no longer be used to measure staff performance

- the company will pause submitting data to external diversity

benchmarking surveys, the memo said.

It would also evaluate external partnerships on the topic

"as part of refreshing our talent strategy", Sweet said in the

memo.

In line with goals set in 2017 and 2020, women currently

make up 48% of Accenture's ( ACN ) workforce and 30% of managing

director roles, according to its latest annual report.

The company, which hires extensively from India, had also

announced race and ethnicity goals for the U.S. and the UK in

2020.

The Financial Times was the first to report the development.

(Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)