From Google to Target, US cos drop diversity policies after Trump's order

Meta, one of the biggest social media company ended its DEI Platforms programs, including those for hiring, training and picking suppliers

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 on 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 pare back such programs: 

 

Company Statements 

Starbucks: In March, 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 longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which advocates for LGBTQ rights. 

Tractor Supply also said it would eliminate DEI roles and retire its current DEI goals. 

Deere: 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-Davidson:  In August, the motorcycle manufacturer said it 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: 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: The automaker said it will change its DEI program, including ending participation in an LGBTQ advocacy group's ranking system. 

Molson Coors: 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: 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: 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: The social media company ended its DEI Platforms programs, including those for hiring, training and picking suppliers.

Amazon.com 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: 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 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's Google is scrapping its goal to hire more employees from underrepresented groups and is reviewing some DEI initiatives. 

Accenture: 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 Sachs: The bank canceled a four-year-old policy to only take public companies that had two diverse board members, citing legal developments related to board diversity requirements.

 

Institutiona: The top proxy adviser will no longer consider the gender, racial, or ethnic diversity of U.S. Shareholder company boards when making its voting Services recommendations. 

BlackRock: The world's largest asset manager recently eliminated a 30 per cent diversity target for boards from late 2021.

Walt Disney The media giant is tweaking its DEI programs to focus more closely on business outcomes.