Feb 5 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google is

scrapping its goal to hire more employees from underrepresented

groups and is reviewing some of its diversity, equity and

inclusion (DEI) initiatives, joining a slew of U.S. businesses

scaling back diversity initiatives.

"In 2020, we set aspirational hiring goals and focused on

growing our offices outside California and New York to improve

representation," Fiona Cicconi, Alphabet's chief people officer,

said in the memo on Wednesday, a copy which was reviewed by

Reuters. "...but in the future we will no longer have

aspirational goals."

Google had been for years among the most vocal companies

pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests

against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black

Americans in 2020.

In 2020, CEO Sundar Pichai set a goal to have 30% more

of its leaders be from underrepresented groups by 2025. At the

time, about 96% of Google's U.S. leaders were white or Asian,

and 73% globally were men.

In 2021, it began to evaluate executive performance on

team diversity and inclusion after a prominent leader of

artificial intelligence research said the company abruptly fired

her after she criticized its diversity efforts. Google's chief

diversity officer Melonie Parker said in a 2024 interview with

BBC that the company had hit 60% of its five-year goals.

On Wednesday, the Alphabet spokesperson said the company

did not have updated figures regarding Pichai's goals.

Alphabet's annual filing with the U.S. SEC on Wednesday

showed it omitted a line saying it was "committed to making

diversity, equity and inclusion part of everything we do and to

growing a workforce that is representative of the users we

serve."

That statement appeared in annual reports from 2021 to 2023.

The spokesperson said the line was removed to reflect its review

of DEI programs.

Google, which sells cloud computing and other services to

the U.S. government, also said it was reviewing policy changes

by President Donald Trump aimed at curbing DEI in the government

and among federal contractors.

"Because we are a federal contractor, our teams are also

evaluating changes to our programs required to comply with

recent court decisions and U.S. Executive Orders on this topic,"

Cicconi said in the email.

The company will maintain internal employee groups like

"Trans at Google," "Black Googler Network" and the "Disability

Alliance," which the company has said inform decisions around

products and policies.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Wednesday about

the memo.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms ( META ) in January said in

an internal memo it was ending its DEI programs, including those

for hiring, training and picking suppliers.

Amazon ( AMZN ) also said it was "winding down outdated

programs and materials" related to representation and inclusion,

in a memo to its employees, seen by Reuters.

Conservative groups, fortified by a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court

ruling that invalidated affirmative action in university

admissions, have condemned DEI programs and have threatened

litigation against companies implementing them.