BUSINESS Secretary Kemi Badenoch says companies should ditch the wokery and get on with the day job.
She says people want them to recruit the best — regardless of race or gender.
It comes as a poll reveals half of those questioned think businesses have become too concerned with political activism.
Think-tank Policy Exchange’s survey found 75 per cent of people believed they should prioritise hiring on merit rather than focusing on diversity.
Ms Badenoch said: “This confirms what I know to be true from talking to people who run businesses, work in them, and buy from them.
“The public want the focus of business to be on delivering great products and services, not activism or political causes — which repel as many people as they attract.
“Overwhelmingly, people want companies to recruit on merit, selecting the best person without regard to race or gender, rather than social engineering to create ‘diverse teams’.”
Policy Exchange also found diversity initiatives unpopular — 43 per cent of employees would be less likely to continue working for a company which asked them to wear pronoun badges.
And asked about businesses taking political stances on issues such as Palestine and transgender rights, about half of people said it would make no difference to whether they would buy their products.
Policy Exchange’s Lara Brown said: “The public strongly believes that businesses should prioritise meritocracy and strong customer service over contested political stances.”
