Which racial or ethnic groups have seen the largest employment gains from DEI programs since 2015?
Executive summary
Public reporting does not offer a single, definitive breakdown of which racial or ethnic groups have seen the largest employment gains from DEI programs since 2015; available sources instead describe trends and winners in pieces (for example, reporting that companies expanded hiring of Black workers after 2020 and that white women have been large beneficiaries of DEI-related policies) rather than providing a rigorous, race-by-race employment-gain tally [1] [2] [3]. Major research compilations cited in trade and consulting pieces show progress in representation and measurable business benefits tied to DEI but emphasize uneven outcomes, high turnover for some groups (Black employees) and broad benefits for others (women, especially white women) rather than a clean “largest gains by group” conclusion [4] [5] [2].
1. No single source gives a clean ranking — the data are fragmented
Public pieces and DEI summaries in our collection highlight improvements for multiple groups but do not present a unified BLS- or EEOC-style dataset that attributes employment gains since 2015 directly to DEI programs by race/ethnicity; reporters and consultants instead point to patterns—surges in Black hiring after 2020, greater representation goals, and large participation in women-focused programs—without a single study that quantifies net gains for each racial group over the full period [1] [2] [3].
2. Black hiring surged after 2020 but outcomes are mixed
Several sources report a post-2020 increase in hiring of Black workers tied to corporate racial-equity initiatives; Forbes describes a “surge in black hiring after the racial reckoning of 2020,” but also warns of recent backsliding and labor-market weakness in sectors that employ many Black workers (retail, transportation, manufacturing) [1]. Mercer’s analysis shows employers have been able to attract and hire Black talent in some cases, but high turnover among Black employees remains a substantial problem—Mercer reports hires for Black employees were 45% in a recent year while exits remained high, indicating gains at recruitment may not have reliably translated into durable employment gains [5].
3. Women — and particularly white women — are repeatedly named beneficiaries
Multiple commentators and syntheses say DEI efforts (mentoring, parental leave, leadership pipelines) have produced notable gains for women, and some coverage explicitly identifies white women as among the biggest beneficiaries of DEI-style policies [2] [3]. That reporting stresses that gender-focused interventions (flexible work, leadership programs) have widened access across racial groups but that women overall—especially white women—have often captured significant gains from those initiatives [2] [3].
4. Companies and consultants report business impacts but not a racial winners list
Research briefs and industry roundups frame DEI as a business strategy that improves attraction, retention and innovation, and they cite aggregated performance effects (e.g., higher engagement, market performance, or revenue gains) but stop short of breaking those outcomes down into per-race employment deltas attributable to DEI since 2015 [6] [7] [8]. Those reports tend to focus on program design, disclosure trends, and reputational consequences rather than producing longitudinal causal estimates by race [8] [6].
5. Data gaps and measurement problems hide the true distribution of gains
Experts and consultants warn that many employers do not even track nuanced differences by race and program utilization—Mercer notes only a small share of firms track racial/ethnic differences in savings or benefits use—making it difficult to trace whether DEI-driven hires persisted or translated into promotions and retention [5]. Broader reviews also show companies increasingly reframe or hide DEI language in filings, complicating public measurement of outcomes [8].
6. Competing narratives: policy rollback versus sustained corporate commitments
The reporting shows divergent trajectories: parts of government and some state laws have sought to curtail race-conscious DEI work, producing layoffs of DEI staff and lower disclosure in 2025, while other corporations publicly reaffirmed commitments and reported reputation gains for doing so [9] [10] [11]. That split means any assessment of who benefited most depends on which employers and time windows you include [10] [11].
7. Bottom line for researchers and policymakers
Available sources do not provide a definitive, source-cited ranking of which racial or ethnic group realized the largest employment gains specifically because of DEI programs since 2015. The evidence points to important successes—for Black recruitment after 2020 and for women (notably white women) via family‑friendly and leadership programs—but persistent turnover and inconsistent tracking mean claims of “largest gains by group” are not supported by the materials we have [1] [5] [2] [3]. If you want a definitive answer, you will need longitudinal, employer-level data that link specific DEI interventions to hires, promotions and retention by race/ethnicity—data our provided sources say are seldom assembled or publicly available [5] [8].