When I scroll through social media or talk to others these days, anger, disappointment and sadness are mixed together. What gives me strength are conversations with customers and many public statements in the spirit of diversity.
Of course, we are talking about SAP, the German flagship company with the DEI commitment that was so commendable until recently. The company has announced that it will no longer adhere to these guidelines in future, citing new guidelines from the US government.
As you can read in the post by Cawa Younosi, the former Global Head of People Experience at SAP, this is not a legal requirement at all, but a legally non-binding decree from Trump. This clearly means that SAP is taking this step for fear of losing sales in the USA.
I am an entrepreneur myself. I too cannot afford not to keep an eye on the bottom line. But while the trend is finally moving towards ‘people over profit’ and SAP as an employer has found exemplary ways of recognising the reality of life for all employees, the management is now opting for profit over people. But at what cost? Donald Trump wants to shut us up. This influence peddling in global corporations is an extension of the speech bans in US academia and the Trump administration (see my post in the comments ⬇️). What does this mean for us as a company? Right now, we need to take responsibility for democratic values.
There are those who say: Now more than ever!
The Charta der Vielfalt e.V. has been signed by 6,000 companies. They are all committed to an appreciative and unprejudiced working environment. They therefore represent 14.7 million employees in Germany. Like many other companies, we are committed to diversity and equal opportunities through our business model. The high demand confirms it: equality is attractive, equal opportunities are the future – we are the proof of concept. If we lose our credibility, we will also lose talent. And no company can afford to miss out on even one talent.
Together we make a difference, we can maintain and show attitude! It is so important not to view careers in a vacuum, but always embedded in social developments. This shows that work is political through and through – that’s why I want companies to take on political responsibility too. We are against authoritarian pressure, but never against each other. Only together can we defend ourselves against paternalism, discrimination and anti-democratic forces. This is the only way we can remain credible as companies, employers and people.
The USA and SAP are currently showing that they can deny women hard-won access at the touch of a button – without batting an eyelid. I, for one, will never listen to anyone say to me again: ‘You women can be anything if you want to be!’
The WWF said last year that it will take 134 years, a full 5 generations, to achieve gender equality. If we allow Trump and his administration to exert their bad influence on us, it will quickly become 10 generations. Morally, this is a mistake, but in my view it is also a fatal mistake economically.
In view of the valuable posts by Dr. Wiebke Ankersen, Nina Strassner, Cawa Younosi and Cyrill Luchsinger, I refuse to give up my optimism. And you?
Posted by Natascha Hoffner, Founder & CEO of herCAREER | Recipient of the FTAfelicitas Award from Femtec.Alumnae e.V. | LinkedIn Top Voice 2020 | Editor of the “Women of the Year” books published by Callwey Verlag
published on LinkedIn on 21.05.2025
