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British pharma company GSK has paused diversity activities for UK workers, claiming that it is obliged to do so in response to executive orders by the US president, Donald Trump.
The FTSE 100 company has also scrubbed references to “diversity” from its website. GSK is led by Emma Walmsley, one of the few women to lead a FTSE 100 company.
Donald Trump took aim at efforts to increase the representation of minorities in workplaces soon after starting his second term in the White House. His executive orders tried to ban federal agencies and contractors from having diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) targets.
The orders have faced challenges in US courts, but that has not stopped a procession of American companies including Goldman Sachs, Walmart, McDonald’s, Ford, Amazon and Facebook owner Meta from rushing to remove their own diversity policies. BlackRock, the world’s largest investor, on Friday joined the crowd, saying it would abandon targets of increased representation of minorities in its workforce.
However, the move by GSK, formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline, affects British staff despite being a British company, listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in central London.
Internal communications said the company was obliged to comply with Trump’s executive orders, because the US is the company’s largest market and the US government is its No 1 customer. GSK argued on Thursday that it could raise the potential pay package for Walmsley to nearly £22m in three years’ time in order to compete with US rivals.
The British company’s position on diversity contrasts with others. Notably, British pharma rival AstraZeneca, which also employs thousands of workers in the US, has not made any changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The GSK communications said that all diversity and inclusion policies are being reviewed. In the meantime, there is to be a pause on diversity and inclusion activities, although it is understood that efforts to promote diversity in clinical trials – vital to understand medicines’ effects across varied populations – will not be affected.
References to “diversity, equity and inclusion”, present as late as 19 February according to the Internet Archive, were changed to merely “inclusion” on one section of GSK’s website.
Mentoring groups for women have been put on hold, as has a social mobility programme in the UK that works with students from less-privileged socioeconomic groups to support them entering the workplace, according to sources. Charitable activities with a diversity element are also under review.
A GSK company spokesperson said: “We are strongly committed to GSK being an inclusive workplace where our people can be themselves, and have their different perspectives, experiences and characteristics valued, because this helps everyone perform at their best.
“We have to ensure we remain compliant with the law in the countries in which we operate, including the US. This is why we have paused some activities to review them. To be clear this does not necessarily mean they will be stopped but we may need to make some changes. We are consulting and talking to our people about all of this.”
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The changes have caused disquiet among some of GSK’s UK staff.
Catherine Howarth, chief executive of ShareAction, a campaign group, said: “It’s seriously disappointing to learn of GSK taking this step. It’s likely to go down very poorly with many of GSK’s longest-standing investors, clients and stakeholders. Companies that abandon policies that promote equal opportunities will likely lose talent over time and fail to attract the best. It’s a shortsighted approach with significant risk.”
A GSK company spokesperson added: “The company completely rejects this characterisation of our actions.”
Sarah Tahamtani, head of the employment practice at Clarion, a UK law firm, said: “I can’t imagine a situation where a UK employer would be bound by an executive order in the US.”
However, she added that Trump’s orders may shift “the general mood” with regard to diversity and discrimination, which could affect how UK companies operate.
