Strategy | EDI isn't going anywhere in 2026

Last year, the noise around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within UK workplaces grew louder, and more polarised.

Donald Trump during his presidency has decried diversity programmes, calling them discriminatory and claiming that they drive down performance (without evidence). This caused some large US employers such as Amazon, McDonald’s and Meta to roll back their EDI programmes, bowing down to the presidents’ rhetoric.

As a result, some UK employers have followed suit. Freeths reported that 28% of UK businesses have scaled back or completely dropped EDI and sustainability programmes. Shockingly (or perhaps not), it also found that 83% of businesses still prioritise profit over ‘doing the right thing’.

Yet this flies in the face of what 2026 is likely to bring. There is of course the Employment Rights Act, which reached Royal Ascent last year. This introduces tighter employment regulations and more protection for employees, starting this year. Whilst the implementation of this new act is staggered over the next few years, it brings into focus what an employee can expect from their employer in terms of equality and wider EDI.