Goldman Sachs to drop race, gender and LGBTQ+ criteria from board evaluations
Goldman Sachs is removing race, gender and other diversity-related considerations when evaluating prospective candidates for its executive board after pressure from an activist shareholder group to remove the criteria.The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a small Goldman shareholder, quietly submitted a request to the company last September asking the bank to eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) board criteria.According to a Wall Street Journal report, Goldman recently informed the group that it plans to remove the DEI criteria, and the two parties signed an agreement under which the NLPC would withdraw its proposal.Goldman’s board is expected to approve the changes this month, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.Currently, the board’s governance committee evaluates qualified candidates based primarily on four factors.
One of those includes a broad description of diversity, such as viewpoints, background and military service, in addition to “other demographics”.That “other demographics” category reportedly included race, gender identity, ethnicity and sexual orientation, but would be removed under the proposed change.Earlier this month, the NLPC announced it reached similar deals with American Express and John Deere to “eliminate DEI for Board candidates”.The group submitted shareholder proposals to 11 Fortune 500 companies, including Goldman, challenging their DEI initiatives.Both Goldman and the NLPC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shift follows other recent changes at the bank.Last year, Goldman scrapped a policy meant to encourage diversity on the boards of companies it takes public.The move also reflects a broader pullback from DEI initiatives across corporate America since Donald Trump returned to office last January and launched a campaign against DEI practices in both the government and the private sector.Several days before Trump’s inauguration, Meta said it was ending its DEI programs, while Amazon told employees that it was “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to representation and inclusion.Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to dismantle DEI policies and efforts at federal agencies, and scrutinize such practices among contractors and corporations in the private sector.
Several major companies have since continued to scale back their DEI efforts.Deloitte last year instructed employees working on federal government contracts to remove pronouns from their email signatures.Target also scaled back its DEI initiatives, and Alphabet’s Google said it was scrapping its goal to hire more people from historically underrepresented groups and would also reviewing some of its DEI initiatives.In April, Barclays removed its gender and ethnicity targets for US staff, and Lego cut diversity-related terminology from its annual sustainability report.
Brazilian butt lifts should be banned in UK amid ‘wild west’ industry, MPs say
Brazilian butt lifts should be banned in the UK, MPs have said, as a report found a lack of regulation had led to a “wild west” of cosmetic procedures being carried out in garden sheds, hotel rooms and public toilets.The women and equalities committee (WEC) said high risk procedures such as non-surgical buttock augmentation should be outlawed immediately, and a licensing system for lower risk treatments was urgently needed. People with no training can carry out potentially harmful procedures, putting the public at risk, the group of MPs added.A nine-month inquiry by the committee also found ministers were not moving quickly enough to tackle the risks posed to Britons and recommended they “accelerate regulatory action”. The lack of timely action was “fostering complacency in self-regulation” within the industry, they cautioned
UK shoppers warned over spread of harmful and illegal skin lightening kits
Illegal skin lightening products are being sold in an increasingly wide range of UK outlets, including butchers, specialist food shops and small grocery stores, trading standards officers have warned.The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is warning that many of the products contain substances that are banned because of the serious risks they pose to health, including skin damage, infections and pregnancy complications.Officers say that, as well as online, they are finding them more frequently in Asian and Arab stores, plus specialist butchers and grocery stores for other diverse communities, whom the products are primarily targeted at.Tendy Lindsay, former chair of the CTSI, said: “As a Black woman and a longstanding advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion, I want to be absolutely clear: the sale of illegal skin lightening products is not only dangerous, it is unlawful.“Many of these products contain banned substances such as high levels of hydroquinone, mercury or potent corticosteroids
‘It’s soul-crushing’: young people battle to find any work in bleak jobs market
On any given day, Poppy Blackman is engaged in the “soul-crushing” process of applying for a new job, and rarely ever hearing anything back.The 22-year-old has been unemployed since January 2025 and says she applies to an average of 50 roles a month, using one of four different CVs she has written for different types of jobs and sectors.“I can’t be picky with what I want to apply for,” says Blackman, who lives in London. She studied fashion and art design at North Kent College but has given up on only applying within this sector.“Not a day goes by when I don’t apply for at least a few jobs,” she says
Fostering target brings hope for thousands of children | Letter
Re your editorial (The Guardian view on fostering: reform is welcome, but excess profits must be tackled, 10 February), I’ll never forget the midnight feast that nobody ate. Four children sat shellshocked in my lounge, having just been removed from their home. They didn’t know or trust us. We tried our best to make them feel comfortable with cookies, doughnuts and crisps, but it would take several days before they were ready to tuck into treats.Fostering has been one of the biggest privileges for my wife and me over the past 20 years
Developers will only bring us more car-dependent sprawl | Letters
It is disappointing to see the huge urban sprawl at Gilston, north of Harlow, described as rejecting “car‑centric models” (A new town for the 21st century?, 9 February).Big, ultra-low-density developments like this, far from rail-transit networks, are inevitably car-dependent, despite claims by their promoters. It takes more than building the primary schools necessitated by such schemes to get people out of their cars, especially as walks to school are extended by the very low densities secured by huge consumption of productive farmland.Nor should the developers be given credit for “mixed tenure” housing. They managed to get East Herts council’s aspirations for 40% “affordable” housing reduced to 23%, using cynical “viability” provisions in planning guidance that enable developers to demand high rates of return and so reduce their obligations to provide affordable housing
Health support needed to tackle joblessness | Letter
The alarming rise in economic inactivity highlighted in your report (UK sleepwalking into joblessness epidemic, Tesco boss warns, 10 February) underlines a public health issue as much as an economic one. It is increasingly clear that millions of working-age people are drifting out of the labour market not through choice but because of long-term health problems and inadequate support systems around them.Tackling worklessness requires proactive, health-centred approaches that help individuals stay in or return to work. We also know that time out of work is corrosive. Good-quality work improves physical and mental wellbeing, providing income, social connection and purpose, and protects against social exclusion
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