Morgan Stanley Requests Employees Fulfill ‘Diversity’ Quota In Job Application Process

One of the nation’s top investment banking firms is requesting that employees fulfill a “diversity” quota in the job application process. 

According to internal slides obtained by The Daily Wire, Morgan Stanley is mandating that job application pools meet a 50 percent threshold of “diverse” candidates. Employees were told to contact the company’s human resources department if they cannot meet the requirements. Diverse applicants are considered female or individuals that identify as “Black, Hispanic, [or] Asian.” 

In one recruitment PowerPoint slide, employees were shown a four-step process of recruiting and were told that diversity and inclusion were the pinnacle of steps one and three — sourcing and interviewing.

“Our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion is demonstrated throughout our recruiting practices, most notably in the sourcing and interviewing of candidates,” the slide reads.  

During the “sourcing” candidates portion of recruitment, employees were told that job descriptions must be not only effective but also inclusive. Employees are encouraged to partner with human resources to garner a “diverse pool of candidates.” 

“Ensure your candidate pool is at least 50% diverse (gender, ethnicity, or as defined by region),” the slide reads. “If you are not seeing enough diverse resumes, work with [an] HR Recruiter to question this and ask why?” 

The interview panel must also be composed of diverse employees. According to the slides, a diverse interview panel includes “employees from different genders, ethnicities, backgrounds, functional teams, affinity groups, etc.” 

Morgan Stanely also has an internal process for tracking how many female, male, black, Hispanic, and Asian candidates are shortlisted, interviewed, finalists, and/or hired for positions. Employees and interviewers are also asked what the racial and gender makeup of the final two candidates for a given job are. If the finalists are not considered “diverse” candidates, then employees must explain why. 

One of the PowerPoint slides describes the role of an interviewer, which is two-part and contradictory. Interviewers are required to discuss only “job-related” content and also “challenge any potential biases” seen in the candidate. 

“[Interviewers must] ensure that only relevant topics are discussed during the selection process, and that interview questions are job-related and consistent for all candidates,” the slide reads. “[Interviewers must] advocate for diversity, challenge any potential biases, and ensure that candidates are informed of the Firm’s commitment to diversity.”

Throughout the entire interview process, employees and interviewers are told to actively mitigate their “unconscious bias.” One slide provides strategies for alleviating “unconscious bias” in an interview. 

According to the slides, part of mitigating bias is not questioning the company’s commitment to affirmative action. If an employee were to claim that standards should not be lowered for a minority applicant, then this is considered a form of “race/ethnicity bias.” 

The slide reads: 

Employee: “I know diversity is important, but we shouldn’t have to lower our hiring standards in order to engage diverse candidates.”

Race/Ethnicity Bias: The comment falsely equates underrepresented talent with lowered standards.

Another slide told employees they are showcasing “confirmation bias” if they feel unsure that a candidate who does not have a background in financial services will be able to confidently present to a leadership team. 

Other top financial service companies are pushing similar diversity and inclusion standards at an even larger scale. Whistleblower documents obtained by The Daily Wire highlight the ongoing “anti-racist” campaigns within Ernst & Young and Deloitte. 

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