Is it ‘bro culture’ or bust for Aussie businesses in 2025?

Disdain and resentment have leeched onto diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, so much so that a number of big-time corporations across the globe are rolling back their DEI strategies, paving the way for the “broification” of the workplace.

On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg hit out at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, arguing that workplaces are in desperate need of more “masculine energy." Zuckerberg’s comments follow on from a long string of similar claims presented by powerful corporate entities lashing out against DEI policies.

It’s no secret that Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election has somewhat motivated more companies to come out and roll back their once-fawned-over diversity policies, yet this occurrence is happening at almost a super-sonic rate.

This is a movement that Michael Bradley, managing partner of Marque Lawyers, has described as an accelerated move away from progressive ideals.

“Zuckerberg’s comments can be seen as an element of his transparent shift towards conforming with President Trump’s agenda, but it also reflects a broader movement across all Western countries that has been accelerating rapidly, away from and in opposition to progressive values,” said Bradley.

Among the companies that have committed to a DEI rollback, McDonald’s, Walmart, Meta, and Ford were some of the bigger names that have taken a step back from their “woke” initiatives. Apple, however, was one of the only major corporations to stand firm on their DEI policies.

HR Leader recently spoke to Errol Amerasekera, director of Bluestone Edge, about this trend, and he noted that some of the backlash of these policies may, in fact, be warranted.

“It is oversimplistic as well as dangerous to frame the backlash to DEI policies as dysfunctional or irrational. This is because the ‘backlash’ may have a point,” said Amerasekera.

“When organisations create policies that are ‘woke for the point of being woke’, team members feel these policies are in place to only benefit certain segments of the workforce.”

To Amerasekera’s point, based on the speed at which these policies have been dumped at the first initial sign of backlash, it does highlight that the implementation of these DEI policies may have been carried out for image rather than from a place of substance.

That mishandled implementation can quite easily create frustration among segments of the workforce who have deemed DEI as a cancer. That frustration can have real-time consequences – which we have seen throughout various companies, including Australian organisations.

A recent review into the ongoing transgressions occurring at mining giant Rio Tinto revealed that mishandled DEI was fuelling resentment towards women workers – displayed by an increase in workplace bullying towards women employees by their male colleagues.

“Generally, while reports of bullying increased across all genders, the largest increase between 2021 and 2024 was against women,” said the report.

“This change can be explained by a range of factors, including increasing retaliation in the form of gendered bullying as a response to Rio Tinto’s efforts to promote gender diversity and inclusion.”

‘Masculine energy’ or the patriarchy

With these DEI initiatives being thrown out the window, what is set to replace it? Well, based on Zuckerberg’s comments, “masculine energy” will undoubtedly fill the void, but what does that look like?

Bradley argued that an uptake in “masculine energy” in the workplace is merely a roundabout way of describing a return to patriarchal values.

“DEI has become a dirty word in the US. Zuckerberg betrays the disingenuousness of his own argument that there’s something supposedly wrong with promoting a diversity agenda, by his added commentary about bringing back ‘masculine energy’.

“What he means is self-evident: a restoration of the patriarchy, on the premise that it’s somehow been undermined. There is a major push to bring back the primacy of the white, straight male, and people like Zuckerberg and Musk are openly positioning themselves as its champions,” said Bradley.

Although these discussions are primarily occurring in the US, the Rio Tinto example is only one of the many instances of DEI resentment rising in Australia – with the fires being stoked by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

“Will this movement be imported into Australia? Absolutely, partly because where America goes, we tend to follow, but more so because the conservative side of Australian politics is actively attaching itself to this cultural shift. Peter Dutton, in particular, is overtly pushing it,” said Bradley.

This cultural shift challenges the very fabric of the contemporary workplace, as a return to bro-culture-based principles could undermine the strides made by various groups that have attempted to foster equality and equity across the business landscape.

However, organisations must recognise cultural shifts and how they can actively affect their business outcomes and bottom line. In this case, if DEI poses a direct threat to that, it’s more than likely that we will see Aussie businesses pivot to more of a bro-culture-based approach.

“We can expect to see diversity and inclusion come under serious fire in Australia as if they are bad things. Much of what has been gained over the past 50 years or so, in terms of social and cultural equality, is at risk of being unwound. Anyone who thinks that isn’t the case isn’t concentrating,” said Bradley.

Kace O'Neill

Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.