Amid Trump anti-DEI attack, 1 in 4 hiring managers say women are less respected at work

From mass layoffs to a drastic turn away from DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies, Trump’s second term has already undoubtedly impacted office culture. A new survey shows how some of the newly implemented shifts are impacting women in the workplace.

Resume Builder explored gender biases in hiring and workplace treatment over the past seven weeks, by surveying 864 full-time U.S. hiring managers. According to the results, nearly one in four (24%) of the managers believed women are less respected at work since Trump stepped into the Oval Office once again.

It’s hard to believe that the new Trump administration could have such a far-reaching impact already. But Stacie Haller, Resume Builder’s chief career adviser, believes that dwindling DEI is largely to blame.

“The Trump administration’s rollback of DEI initiatives has led to the dismissal of numerous high-profile women in government and the armed forces, often under claims they were hired solely for diversity,” Haller said in the report. “By assuming women were hired for equity rather than merit, it erases their qualifications and reinforces outdated biases. With fewer women in leadership, this shift is now influencing the private sector, making it even harder for women to compete for top positions against men.”

According to the survey, around 20% of hiring managers say that they have scaled back DEI initiatives in recent weeks. Of those 1 in 5 companies, 22% say they are less focused on hiring women. Likewise, 26% say promoting women into leadership roles has also taken a backseat.

For women who are also mothers, or are planning to be, the results of the survey are more worrisome. Women are already well aware of how the choice to start a family diminishes future earnings (known to women as “the motherhood penalty“). A 2017 study conducted by Census Bureau found that from two years before the birth of a couple’s first child until one year after, a couple’s earnings gap doubles. The gap narrows as the child grows, but it never fully goes away.

But according to the report, having even one child also impacts how hirable managers believe women to be. The report referenced data that showed that while 4% of hiring managers are less likely to hire a man or a woman with children, only 7% are less likely to hire an expecting father, as opposed to 20% who are less likely to hire an expecting mother.

Federal laws prohibit hiring discrimination based on pregnancy, but that doesn’t mean that ingrained biases—perhaps that mothers are less committed, capable, or overall worthy of being hired—don’t stick, explained Haller. “This ingrained mindset continues to disadvantage women, despite legal protections. True progress requires a cultural shift—one that values family time and recognizes that supporting working mothers strengthens, not weakens, businesses.”

The jarring truths about women’s already-present workplace challenges make a solid argument for keeping firm DEI policies to ensure women have the same opportunities as men. However, this new survey shows an undeniable trend, in just two months’ time, toward overlooking women, both when it comes to hiring and promoting them.