Black Representatives in Congress Voice Concerns Over Impact of Tech Layoffs on Minority Workers

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have written to the United States’ Acting Secretary of Labor, Julie Su, expressing concerns over the disproportionate impact tech layoffs could have on Black workers, according to a letter seen by TechCrunch.

First reported by The Grio, the letter contains a list of questions regarding the steps the Department of Labor has taken to monitor the impact of tech layoffs on African Americans, its regulations around business practices and what the Department of Labor has done to ensure recent Supreme Court cases are not being used to undermine corporate DEI practices and budgets.

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“Laying off the most recent hires directly impacts groups of people who benefited from new diversity policies implemented in response to heightened race-based conversations in 2020,” the letter said.

“We’ve seen that Black, Brown, and women tech workers have borne the brunt of layoffs while companies have enjoyed billion-dollar profits,” Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, co-chair of the CBC, told TechCrunch. “Congresswoman [Barbara] Lee and I, as co-chairs of CBC TECH2025, are asking the administration to take action to address this harmful and problematic trend.”

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