(The Center Square) – Job seekers and the currently employed are struggling with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, according to a Freedom Economy Index published by RedBalloon and Public Square.
The survey also notes that more Americans are struggling financially with nearly 75% saying their personal financial situation is “somewhat” or “much worse” off than a year ago. One in five surveyed said their savings will last less than two weeks if they lost their jobs today; 37% said they would have to delay bill payments to survive, according to the report’s “special job seeker” June 2024 edition.
Respondents fare worse in California than they do in Texas and Florida, the three largest states by population, the report found.
“California job seekers are subject to far more diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) discrimination in the hiring process than those in Texas or Florida,” with 75% of job seekers believing artificial intelligence is being used to screen resumes that don’t fit preferred DEI profiles needed to meet corporate DEI quotas.
The report notes that 63% of job seekers are “worried about workplace repercussions if it's discovered that they are Republican or conservative.”
A silver lining, the survey shows, is “The pendulum is swinging back toward freedom and away from cancel culture. Employees want to work in positive workplaces, with productive, mission-oriented collaboration, free from divisive cancel culture.”
The survey found that 37% of respondents said they've experienced DEI-related discrimination in their job search. The number rises to 41% for California-based respondents and drops to 33.7% in Texas.
Nearly 40% of California respondents said they were worried if they display the American flag or show that they love their country at the workplace – fearing they’d be reported to human resources. That's 10 points higher than workers in Texas and seven points higher than those in Florida.
Overall, 67% of respondents said they'd be willing to make less money if it meant they could work in a more positive, less DEI-dominated workplace.
The survey includes “verbatim” written answers from job seekers about their struggle with the hiring process and DEI policies.
One respondent said, “I have a Hispanic last name, but I am white. I have encountered disappointment when I get on a Zoom or Teams video call and my interviewer sees I am not Hispanic.” Another said, “I am a Mexican born U.S. citizen with native Spanish and French. All HR sees is a 51-year-old white male, recruiters have confided in me. This needs to stop. Now.”
Another said one interview question was, “How to give an example of how I can progress or use DEI. Not even kidding.”
Another said, “I was unemployed for three months and only received call backs if I did not include that I am white.”
Those currently employed discussed examples of DEI policies with which they had to comply. One said, “I was forced to discipline a worker who didn't use another person's preferred pronouns.” Another said, “I was required to purchase material through minority vendors.” Still another, “Had to hire based on skin color.”
More: “I cannot wear a beautiful cross necklace my husband got me;” “I was told to remove an American flag pin off my jacket;” “received informal reprimand for inadvertently ‘misgendering’ nonbinary coworker.”
Others mentioned reasons they claim they were discriminated against or were fired because of DEI policies. One said, “I was called a racist because of my skin color;” “fired for ‘transphobia’;” “fired from my job for being politically critical towards wokeism in the workplace;” “discriminated against by colleagues once they learn I'm conservative.”
The June Freedom Economy Index Survey focusing on job seekers sampled more than 100,000 job seekers from RedBalloon’s national job seeker database. The survey was conducted among 949 respondents between May 22-31 and has a margin of error of 3%.
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