AMAZON.COM removed a reference to “inclusion and diversity” in its annual report filed on Thursday (Feb 6), after it told employees in a December memo that it was winding down its programmes as part of corporate America’s broader retreat from such policies.
Separately, an internal memo showed that Accenture has scrapped its global diversity and inclusion goals after an evaluation of the changing US political landscape.
Some of America’s biggest businesses have been scaling back diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.
Trump targets DEI
President Donald Trump and his administration have targeted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies inside and outside the government. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday in a note to staff said the Justice Department would “investigate, eliminate and penalise” illegal diversity programmes in the private sector.
For the last two years, Amazon’s “human capital” section of its annual report said: “As we strive to be Earth’s best employer, we focus on investment and innovation, inclusion and diversity, safety and engagement to hire and develop the best talent.”
In the 2024 version, that sentence has been cut.
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The company also cut a reference to a goal to “promote equity” in a sentence about continuing efforts to refine employee hiring and development.
Amazon’s website states it is “committed to creating a diverse and inclusive company”.
In December, Amazon executive Candi Castleberry said in a letter to employees that it is “winding down outdated programmes and materials” related to DEI by the end of 2024. As part of the change, individual groups would no longer be responsible for building programmes and initiatives would be integrated into “existing processes”.
“Rather than have individual groups build programmes, we are focusing on programmes with proven outcomes – and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture,” Castleberry said.
Amazon did not comment on whether it would remove or rename DEI employee positions.
No more KPIs for diversity
Meanwhile, Accenture will start “sunsetting” diversity goals it set in 2017, along with career development programmes for “people of specific demographic groups”, said a memo from CEO Julie Sweet.
Along with rolling back Accenture’s DEI targets – which Sweet said would no longer be used to measure staff performance – the company will pause submitting data to external diversity benchmarking surveys, the memo said.
It would also evaluate external partnerships on the topic “as part of refreshing our talent strategy”.
In line with goals set in 2017 and 2020, women currently make up 48 per cent of Accenture’s workforce and 30 per cent of managing director roles, according to its latest annual report.
The company, which hires extensively from India, had also announced race and ethnicity goals for the US and the UK in 2020.
Attacks from conservatives
Other US businesses such as big technology companies Meta Platforms and Alphabet’s Google are also rolling back programmes, after facing attacks from conservative groups, who have threatened to sue firms over them.
Disney’s 2024 annual report, which was published in September, removed mentions of its “Reimagine Tomorrow” programme, which was an online space for “amplifying underrepresented voices” featuring some of the company’s diversity, equality and inclusion commitments and actions. However, it added a DEI initiative to hire US military veterans.
One company that bucked the trend is Apple, after proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended on Friday that the iPhone maker’s investors vote against a proposal to consider eliminating its DEI policies.
Twelve state attorneys general, including New York, California and Washington, last week issued a joint statement in opposition to Trump’s characterisation of DEI, saying they are “committed to enforcing federal and state civil rights laws to protect” workers from discriminatory practices. REUTERS
