Walmart shareholders advise the company to rethink its decision to pull back on DEI efforts. Bloomberg reported that over 30 shareholders asked Walmart Inc. to explain why they’ve decided to retreat on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, calling the choice “disheartening.”
The letter to Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon stated that the company had given in to “bullying and pressure from anti-DEI groups.” CEO of SHARE Kevin Thomas, who signed the letter, said, “It’s worrying for shareholders because management appears to be swayed by threats from internet trolls who are already crowing about their success,” according to Afrotech.
What changes are Walmart making?
Walmart announced that it was changing its DEI initiatives in November 2024. The plan to phase out DEI efforts was initially made public by anti-DEI conservative activist Robby Starbuck.
Posting on X, Starbuck said, “Walmart is ending their woke policies. Last week, I told execs at [Walmart] that I was doing a story on wokeness there. Instead, we had productive conversations to find solutions.”
Walmart confirmed the changes with Bloomberg and the Associated Press, which include:
- Closing the company’s racial equity center
- Phasing out the use of the words like ‘DEI’ and ‘Latinx’
- Evaluating supplier diversity programs to ensure that companies do not get special treatment based on race
- Ending racial equity training programs
Which other companies have rolled back on their DEI efforts?
Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources, said Meta was pivoting away from DEI as the “legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing.”
Meta’s DEI team will move away from focusing on diversity and inclusion. Instead, Maxine Williams, the company’s chief diversity officer’s role, will focus on accessibility and engagement.
McDonald’s also recently announced that it will also reduce its DEI initiatives. “We are retiring setting aspirational representation goals and instead keeping our focus on continuing to embed inclusion practices that grow our business into our everyday process and operations,” the company said.
In July 2024, John Deere announced they would no longer support “social or cultural awareness” events. “The existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification has never been and are not company policy,” The company said in a statement posted on X.
Image: Erik S Lesser
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