McDonald's announced earlier this week that the company would end a few initiatives centered on diversity, equity and inclusion, orit would remove goals for diversity within its senior leadership ranks, and do away with a program that encourages suppliers to conduct diversity training and achieve diversity at the management level.
McDonald's also said it had achieved some of its diversity goals, including spending at least 25% of its budget for third-party suppliers on "diverse-owned" companies. Corporations face competitive pressure to recruit and retain talented workers, giving them incentive to establish an environment where employees of varied identities feel welcome, Post said. She noted that some of the announced changes at McDonald's and elsewhere appear to be "surface-level" efforts meant to assuage critics.Sitzmann, of the University of Colorado, disagreed.
Walmart will be "reviewing grants to Pride events to make sure it is not financially supporting sexualized content targeting kids," the company said, noting that it would also exit the Human Rights Campaign's annual benchmark index, which evaluates companies for their LGBTQ+ inclusion. The company said it would no longer participate in or support cultural awareness events, such as parades or festivals. Business Resource Groups – which connect workers who share racial, gender, sexual orientation or other identities – would focus solely on work-related topics, the company added.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker would stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign's annual benchmark index and make identity-based Employee Resource Groups open to all workers, Farley said in the memo, which was"Ford does not utilize hiring quotas or tie compensation to the achievement of specific diversity goals," Farley said.