TB Pulse – Trump and ED&I

Is Trump good for business?

We recently asked more than 50 corporate affairs directors and chief communications officers to contribute to the first in a regular series of Taylor Birchwood ‘pulse’ surveys. The panel includes many of the most experienced communications leaders representing multiple geographies and a wide range of sector-leading organisations spanning technology, media, defence, financial services, energy, FMCG and professional services.

38% of our respondents think that President Trump’s election will have a positive impact on their organisation, while 44% expect it to be negative, with 6% of those anticipating the impact to be very negative.  From the comments received it’s clear that many expect 2025 to be a challenging year for businesses with high levels of geopolitical uncertainty and that in turn, their teams will need to be at their very best to help their companies navigate a successful path.

“We are likely to enter another period of increased global economic volatility as Trump implements his trade policies. While Covid and the energy crisis caused significant short-term volatility, Trump’s trade policies risk causing more systemic, long-term challenges. There will be winners and losers, but probably more losers!”

Is ED&I still important?

Anecdotally, our contributors shared a sense that the external focus on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion has softened in the last 12 months, offering attribution to greater polarisation in society and a rise in populism, resulting in the need for a more considered and equivocal approach.  However, within their own teams 88% reported that ED&I is as important, if not more important, that it has ever been, dropping only slightly to 84% when looking across their business as a whole.

“The agenda is as important to us corporately and as a function as ever it was. However, the prominence of the agenda in our corporate story has definitely diminished in the course of 2024 – mainly due to the rise of a very vocal and aggressive Alt Right ‘anti-woke’ cabal who view virtually any action on DE&I to be worthy of a pile on, particularly in social media.”

Our next pulse survey will be in January, if you have any questions you’d like us to cover, please contact Lauren on lt@taylorbirchwood.com.