Accounting leaders face pressure to choose a path that could reshape talent pipelines and firm culture for years to come.

Accounting Influencers

With Rob Brown

Deloitte’s decision to dismantle its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program for 173,000 U.S. employees is sending shockwaves through the accounting profession, exposing deep divisions on a global scale and forcing firm leaders to weigh politics against talent priorities.

The move—ending DEI goals, disbanding related departments, eliminating annual reporting, and ordering staff to remove pronouns from email signatures—came just hours before Deloitte UK issued a memo affirming its commitment to DEI.