The return of Donald Trump to the White House may boost the US economy but it looks set to be a disaster for one group — diversity, equity and inclusion consultants.

In recent weeks, McDonald’s, Ford, Meta and several other large US companies have scrapped their DEI programmes. But one of Trump’s first acts as the 47th president was to sign an executive order ending all the federal government’s DEI programmes. The order also directs federal agencies “to take strong action to end private sector DEI discrimination”.