8 Major Companies That Appear To Be Hiring For DEI Jobs
Are they ghost jobs? Or are they doubling down on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion?
They say DEI is dead, but there are still some pretty big companies hiring for DEI or DEI-adjacent roles. The big question: ARE THEY REAL?
GHOST JOBS?
In some cases, these might be ghost jobs. A ghost job is a fake or outdated job posting that companies leave up even when they aren’t actively hiring. It’s often used to collect résumés, gauge the talent pool, or make it seem like the company is growing. In this case, it may be to appear that they are pushing back against conservative pressure, as to not get boycotted or challenged by progressive consumers.
How To Spot a Ghost Job:
No Urgency: The listing stays up for months with no updates.
Vague Job Description: Lacks clear responsibilities or qualifications.
No Movement: You apply but never hear back, or the role reappears later.
Recruiters Ghost You: No response after multiple follow-ups.
Too Good to Be True: Offers high pay with little experience needed.
With that said, not every posting is a ghost job — some companies are standing ten toes down when it comes to DEI. And in some cases, it will come down to looking at their more immediate past to understand their future. As usual, this is from the lens of Black America. Let’s dig in.
Disclaimer: Some of these roles may no longer be posted.
1. Suntory Global Spirits
This one posted and was closed pretty quickly, which could mean that they had their candidate already, something changed internally, or something we’ll never know.
Suntory is a Japanese wine and spirits company with offices in the US — and their brands include Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Midori, Roku, Effen, Pinnacle, Larios, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos, Sauza, Knob Creek, Basil Hayden, Hibiki, and Canadian Club.
EEO-1: Not available
Workforce: In following their most recent reporting, they have not been transparent about their workforce data, they have no Black representation in leadership (or their board).
Pipeline: No documented pipeline with HBCUs, but they exhibited at the National Black MBA Association 45th Annual Conference & Exposition to “showcase their employer brand, build leadership capabilities and recruit candidates.”
Pay Equity: “we report on our fair and equitable pay practices in our UK Gender Pay Gap Report.”
Supplier Diversity: In 2023, they achieved 2.5% of global spend with diverse suppliers.
It’s worth noting, one of their biggest competitors, Brown-Forman (Jack Daniels), recently cut some of their DEI initiatives and are currently on the boycott list.
BDI Verdict: Overall, they don’t seem transparently invested. Wait for Suntory to show and prove.
2. Publicis Groupe
Publicis Groupe is the world's biggest advertising holding company. Just this January, Publicis removed their Chief Diversity Officer, which immediately drew criticism, but quickly announced a replacement and a new strategy. According to an internal memo, the new leader will:
“lead the work being done by our teams there on this front, and ensure that our equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts truly sit within our business practices.”
“Publicis will establish a U.S. impact and equity council, chaired by chief inclusion experience officer Renetta McCann. The council will work to unite the company’s DEI and talent leads to ‘scale existing tools, approaches, and learning to reinforce business impact for clients.’”
In full transparency, their DEI reporting was difficult to navigate, so the information below is what we were able to find throughout their website and other resources.
EEO-1: Not available
Workforce: No data for Black representation, although they do share some info on gender, but what we do know when it comes to Black people is:
1 out of 14 (7%) of their board members is Black
0% of their Executive committee are Black.
2 out of 20 (10%) of their managing committe are Black
Pipeline:
They have sponsored the National Black MBA Association Annual Conference and Expo for multiple years.
In 2021, Publicis Health launched an HBCU endowment fund where every year an HBCU within certain criteria would receive $10K — Deleware State University and Morgan State University were the 1st two recipients. It is not clear whether this initiative has been active beyond 2022.
Pay Equity: Not Reported
Supplier Diversity: Not Reported
BDI Verdict: Sounds legit, but may not be as impactful for Black America as other groups.
3. Electronic Arts (EA)
EA, known for EA Sports, Madden, NBA Live, The Sims, and other video games, sits within an industry that is notorious for their lack of diversity; however, from EA’s most recent Impact Report, it seems that they are invested in DEI and social impact across the board — internal workforce, supplier diversity, environment, and community impact.
EEO-1: Public
Workforce: Transparent across gender, race, and various workforce levels.
Black employees make up just 4% of the overall workforce in FY23—a small increase from 3.8% in FY22, despite retention being high.
Leadership remains limited—Black representation among People Leaders is only 4%, meaning few are advancing into decision-making roles.
Technical roles are stagnant, with Black employees at 3.5% in FY23, up slightly from 3.1% in FY22—showing minimal movement in a critical industry sector.
Pipeline:
They engage with HBCU students through scholarships, mentorships and internships, including supporting the United Negro College Fund. In FY23, they reported hiring 240 new graduates and 373 student interns — 36% of their eligible interns were hired as full-time employees.
In FY23, they committed $5 million over five years to support STEAM education among underrepresented youth through two initiatives:
The EA Madden Scholarship commits $2.5 million to annual, renewable scholarships with partner Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Scholarship recipients also received career readiness counseling, mentoring, access to UNCF conferences, recruiting events, and consideration for internships and new graduate roles at Electronic Arts.
The Madden Educational Legacy Fund provides $2.5 million over 5 years to four non-profit organizations focused on STEAM education.
Pay Equity: Continued to achieve base pay equity on the basis of gender globally and race/ethnicity in the U.S.
Supplier Diversity: Spending with minority-owned businesses increased by 4.5% from FY22 to FY23, but there is no breakout for what went to Black suppliers.
BDI Verdict: Legit. Hopefully with their continued investment in DEI, outcomes around Black representation will improve.
4. Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a legacy brand and they’ve recently had a nice resurgence through their partnership with Beyoncé — their CEO Michelle Gass likes to call it “The Beyoncé Effect.” This partnership helped LS&Co. close out their 2024 4th quarter with net revenues of +12% and their net income rose 44% to $183M.
EEO-1: Not available
Workforce: While Black representation across their total workforce and with frontline workers is down since 2020, Levi Strauss & Co. increased Black representation amongst corporate employees, top management, and executive leadership.
Pipeline: Engaged with Clark Atlanta University serving as a platform to “integrate classes in design, merchandising and marketing, using the Levi’s® graphic T-shirt business as a central theme. This approach fostered a comprehensive learning experience, empowering students to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations.”
Pay Equity: Examined gender pay equity — no reporting on racial pay equity.
Supplier Diversity: No reporting available.
BDI Verdict: Legit. They appear to be invested in internal DEI, but we’d like to see more transparency in their reporting, an investment in supplier diversity, and a more intentional commitment to Black America.
5. Warner Bros Discovery
In 2022, AT&T spun off WarnerMedia to Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery and the new company just established their first Sustainability report in 2024, reporting back on 2023. Their reporting is comprehensive and robust, hitting all the notes of internal workforce, external community impact, etc.
EEO-1: No longer available
Refer to our EEO-1 reports on our website, reflecting the company’s U.S. workforce as of December 31 of the most recent year that is available.
Upon clicking the link, we found a removed page — which is most likely due to current conservative pressure. Then we looked for their DEI page, which was also removed, but replaced with an “Inclusion” page, where the work appears to remain.
Workforce: Available, but the use of stacked charts without data labels, makes it difficult to know exact numbers. They underindex for their total workforce, as Black people make up 13.7% of the population and their workforce is at 11.7%.
Pipeline: WBD partners with HBCU’s and other organizations, such as The Emma Bowen Foundation and T. Howard Foundation to find Black talent and interns.
Pay Equity: Unconfirmed
As WBD, we are taking the opportunity, as part of our integration, to review our policies, processes, and compensation structure to ensure they are robust and promote fair and equitable compensation practices.
Supplier Diversity: SD Program exists, but no data provided.
BDI Verdict: Warner Bros Discovery got “DEI” up outta here, but we hope it is just semantics. We will be on the lookout for their next sustainability report and hope they continue on in the spirit of transparency.
6. Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH)
LVMH seems to be on a DEI hiring spree across multiple brands — Louis Vuitton, Kendo, and Tiffany & Co. From Moet Hennessy mentions in rap lyrics to Tiffany bracelets, to LV monogrammed fashion statements, Black culture has been a driver across the LVMH brand portfolio.
EEO-1: Not Available
Workforce: Minimal reporting on gender, age, and disability. No ethnic or racial data.
Pipeline: Tiffany & Co. reported partnering with HBCUs to “offer educational and professional opportunities to students in the creative arts and media fields” and LVMH North America works with organizations like Harlem’s Fashion Row to “open doors to talented creative people of color through events and collaborations.” Additionally, they report supporting the following pipeline-related partnerships:
HBCU First
Marcus Graham Project
Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF)
Pay Equity: Not reported. They mention “Gender Equity.”
Supplier Diversity: Not Reported
BDI Verdict: Legit, but Black people seem to be more of a marketing strategy.
7. Nike
Nike is comprised of Nike, Jordan Brand, and Converse. Similar to LVMH, Black culture has been a HUGE driver for all Nike brands for decades. Their latest impact report did not disappoint.
EEO-1: 2023 Not Available, but data provided in Impact Report; 2022 Available.
Workforce: Nike provided comprehensive workforce data, pulled directly from their EEO-1 report. In 2023, Black people made up 25.4% of their workforce and 14.5% of their global corporate VP+ ranks.
Pipeline: Various partnerships and initiatives to increase their Black representation, including AfroTech, Serena Williams Design Crew (SWDC) fellowship, and HBCU programs like Howard Design.
Pay Equity: Reported “100% pay equity across all employee levels on an annual basis.”
Supplier Diversity: NIKE spent $395 million with Tier 1 diverse-suppliers. They did not report on their Black supplier spend.
BDI Verdict: Legit.
8. JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Established in 2019, Advancing Black Pathways is one of JPMorgan Chase’s seven “centers of excellence”:
Advancing Black Pathways (“ABP”): works to strengthen the economic foundation of Black communities. It seeks to address historical barriers to economic growth in Black communities through education and information sharing, talent sourcing and development, identifying and building leaders and leadership opportunities, supporting Black-owned businesses and improving fnancial health for Black communities worldwide.
EEO-1: 2023 Not Published as a standalone, but provided in a separate doc.
Workforce: JPMC is fully transparent about race/ethnicity data, as well as gender. They have remained relatively steady across Black representation for the last 3 years with total Black workforce at 14%, Execs at 5%, and mid-level managers at 9%. Their board representation is strong at 18%, but their corporate leadership team currently has 0% representation (noting, TIAA’s CEO Thasunda Duckett was previously on the JPMC leadership team).
Pipeline: In addition to Advancing Black Pathways, JPMC partners with HBCUs and other organizations to recruit employees and interns.
Pay Equity:
We are committed to fair compensation for our employees. We conduct periodic pay equity reviews that include employees at all levels within the Firm. In 2023, taking into account factors such as an employee's role, tenure, seniority and geography, in aggregate, globally, those who self-identifed as women were paid 99% of what men were paid. In 2023, in the U.S., employees who self-identifed as other than White under Equal Employment Opportunity Commission classifcations were paid, as a group, on par with what White employees were paid, taking into account factors such as an employee’s role, tenure, seniority and geography.
Supplier Diversity: JPMC did not report on their Black supplier spend.
In 2023, our Firm spent approximately $2.3 billion on Tier 1 diverse suppliers, who in turn spent $1 billion on our Tier 2 diverse suppliers13, including $2 billion with minority-owned businesses and $1.3 billion with women-owned businesses
BDI Verdict: Legit.
Be informed.
The Black Dollar Initiative is the 501(c)(3) research and data hub that powers the Black Dollar Index. Your donation will go towards helping us research, analyze, and report over 120 corporations across 20+ data points. Donations are tax-deductible (EIN: 85-2383485).
Sources:
Nike Impact Report (Note: This is a download link for a PDF)
https://www.lvmh.com/investors/key-figureshttps://lvmh-com.cdn.prismic.io/lvmh-com/ZofmnB5LeNNTw0d9_lvmh_committed_to_positive_impact_2023_en.pdf