I’m a software engineer by trade. Moved on to software architect, and then director level.
There’s no way I could effectively do my job without my background. When doing embedded systems I’d have to write device drivers for silicon; display controllers, ethernet devices, ASIC’s, USB, etc.. The silicon, if programmed incorrectly, just doesn’t do what you want. It doesn’t care about my skin color. It doesn’t care what is between my legs, or what I like or dislike about what is there. It doesn’t care about age, height, religion, marriage status, or anything else. If a single bit in a single byte in a single device register is wrong, the device won’t work correctly.
Rinse repeat in many, if not the vast majority of, jobs.
I *can* see that certain position, like customer service or marketing, could see a benefit. They need to relate to their customers, what their offering is and their interactions with the customer.
Outside that, it’s pure discrimination - especially against straight, older, white men.
I think the original intention regarding diversity might have been "to hire the best people for a job regardless of race or ethnic/cultural identity." Then some affirmative action types with Marxist inclinations perverted that idea to give "preference" to certain minority races regardless of their abilities.