Some companies including Delta Airlines have stated their commitment to maintaining their DEI efforts.
Out of the blue, a headhunter emailed me at 9:30 one night to ask if I could talk with her at 9:30 the following morning. I said Ok, and the next morning we had a Zoom call when she explained to me the open role she was looking to fill. She said she was working for a big national not-for-profit organization which receives a lot of Federal funding. The organization was concerned about threats from the current White House Administration and so was looking for an editor to go through all the organization's content and take out all references to DEI – which promotes diversity, equality and inclusiveness – so they would continue to get Federal funding.
There was a long silent pause. I was kind of stunned by what she was saying. I had never heard a job description like that before. And by definition, the role of this organization is to provide services to a widely diverse community. We talked about it some more. This was an organization that I am familiar with and like, and I began to think about the job as a way to help this organization and protect it during this challenging time. The job was fully remote, which was convenient, and it was a good pay rate! I told the headhunter I would be interested in pursuing it.
A couple of days later I found myself on a Zoom interview with the Vice President of Communications. We had a nice friendly talk. It was not an awkward interview where the interviewer goes down a rote list of questions. She said there would be 10 editors working full time for three months to go through all the content. By the end of our chat, I was fairly confident that I would get it.
A week later I got an email. I did not get the job. At first I was kind of baffled by it. My experience is excellent and I thought we had a nice rapport. Then I thought - Maybe they went through my social media? Saw that I had recently attended a No Kings March? And maybe a married gay guy was not the best candidate to delete all diversity, equality and inclusiveness. I began to feel relieved that I didn't get it. I don't know if I'd really be able to do that work. After all, I believe deeply in equality for all and the importance of diversity and inclusiveness. That's why I live in New York City! I notice companies now in the news who will maintain their commitment to DEI under pressure and I admire those companies and want to support them.
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