February 28, 2025

Factbox-US companies scale back and modify diversity policies after Trump's order

(Reuters) - From Google to Target, many major U.S. companies have dropped or considered altering their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies following President Donald Trump’s executive order to curtail such programs at the federal and private level.

Even before Trump took office, big corporations were under increasing pressure from conservative groups to cut back or tweak their DEI policies aimed at boosting racial and ethnic representation at the workplace.

Here are some of the companies that have already scrapped their DEI policies or are facing pressure to modify the language around such programs on their websites and regulatory filings:

Company Statement

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ) In March 2024, the coffee giant’s shareholders

voted for an executive compensation plan that

dropped a bonus related to DEI goals.

Tractor The company in late June said that it would no

Supply longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign

(HRC), which advocates for LGBTQ rights.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO ) also said it would eliminate DEI

roles and retire its current DEI goals.

Deere (NYSE: DE ) The company said in July it would not

participate in or support external social or

cultural awareness parades, festivals, or

events. The farm equipment maker also

reaffirmed that the existence of diversity

quotas and pronoun identification have never

been and are not company policy.

Harley-David In August, the motorcycle manufacturer said it

son would not participate in the HRC survey and had

ended its DEI initiatives.

Brown-Forman The Jack Daniel’s maker said it would ensure

executive incentives and employee goals are

tied to business performance, end participation

in the HRC survey and scrap its quantitative

workforce and supplier diversity goals.

Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW ) The home improvement chain will no longer

participate in HRC surveys and will combine its

various business resource groups that represent

diverse employees into one umbrella

organization. Lowe’s said in August it would

not sponsor or participate in community events

such as parades, festivals, or fairs.

Ford Motor (NYSE: F ) The automaker said it will change its DEI

program, including ending participation in an

LGBTQ advocacy group’s ranking system.

Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP ) The beer maker said it will end participation

Beverage in the HRC index, and will tie executive

incentives to business performance and not

aspirational representation goals beginning

this year.

Boeing (NYSE: BA ) The planemaker has dismantled its global

diversity, equity and inclusion department

according to Bloomberg News. Boeing’s diversity

vice president Sara Liang Bowen announced in

October on LinkedIn that she had left the

company.

Walmart (NYSE: WMT ) The retail bellwether will no longer consider

race and gender to boost diversity when

granting supplier contracts and is scaling back

racial equity training. Walmart is also

stopping participation in rankings by HRC and

also reviewing its support for Pride and other

events.

Meta (NASDAQ: META ) The social media company ended its DEI

Platforms programs, including those for hiring, training

and picking suppliers.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) The ecommerce giant was "winding down outdated

programs and materials" as part of a review of

hundreds of initiatives, according to a memo

sent to employees in December.

McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD ) The fast-food chain is retiring its goal for

diversity in corporate leadership and shifting

away from some diversity practices. McDonald’s

also said the company’s diversity team will now

be called its "global inclusion team."

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) The iPhone maker’s board recommended investors

vote against a shareholder proposal by National

Center for Public Policy - a conservative

think-tank - to abolish the company’s DEI

programs.

Target The big-box retailer said in January it was

ending its DEI program and Racial Equity

Action and Change (REACH) initiatives this

year, which included plans to add more than 500

Black-owned brands.

Vanguard The top mutual fund manager Vanguard removed a

statement from its 2024 policy that, in

addition to having a diversity of tenure and

skills, a board should also, "at a minimum,

represent diversity of personal

characteristics, inclusive of at least

diversity in gender, race, and ethnicity."

Google Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL )’s Google is scrapping its goal to hire

more employees from underrepresented groups and

is reviewing some DEI initiatives.

Accenture (NYSE: ACN ) The company will start "sunsetting" the

diversity goals it implemented in 2017, along

with career development programs for "people of

specific demographic groups" after an

evaluation of the changing U.S. political

landscape.

Goldman The Wall Street giant has dropped an entire

Sachs section dedicated to "diversity and inclusion"

from its annual filing released on Thursday.

Institutiona The top proxy adviser will no longer consider

l the gender, racial, or ethnic diversity of U.S.

Shareholder company boards when making its voting

Services recommendations.

BlackRock (NYSE: BLK ) The world’s largest asset manager recently

eliminated a 30% diversity target for boards

from late 2021.

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS ) The media giant is tweaking its DEI programs to

focus more closely on business outcomes.

In February, the drugmaker changed

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE ) its

webpage

on DEI to focus on merit. The

drugmaker added the following language in a

summary of its DEI policies: "Our culture of

diversity, equity and inclusion is based on

merit—one where hard work, talent, and

contributions drive success, and barriers to

opportunity are removed."

The software firm removed a subhead

EPAM Systems dedicated to its commitment towards diversity

and inclusion from its 2024

Factbox-US companies scale back and modify diversity policies after Trump's order

annual filing

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