Target, which nearly a decade ago became the first big retailer to support transgender people using restrooms and fitting rooms of their choice in its stores, is now one of the latest companies to drop its DE&I programs.
On Friday, just a few days before the start of Black History Month, the company announced that it would conclude its DE&I goals and its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives first established in 2020, which included efforts to hire and promote more women, people of color, people with disabilities, and veterans. Beyond that, the company also said it would no longer share diversity-related data with external sources like the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
In response to the news, some customers have called for a boycott. Twin Cities Pride, which hosts the Pride parade in Minneapolis where Target is headquartered, announced that the company would not be involved in the 2025 parade after years of sponsorship.
The move comes months after the company began backing away from in-store DE&I efforts. Last June, Target drew headlines for reducing its in-store Pride displays and being less outspoken overall in its corporate LGBTQ+ allyship in response to a right-wing pressure campaign that began in 2023.
Not so committed? It’s not just Target. In the last month, Meta announced it would end its DE&I programs, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying he wanted more “masculine energy” in the workforce during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast. McDonald’s also rolled back its DE&I commitments in January, swapping mentions of “diversity” for “inclusion,” joining companies like Walmart and John Deere in their pullback.
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Under a new presidential administration, that pullback seems poised to continue. President Donald Trump has already issued an executive order in the week since becoming president to end DE&I programs in the federal government.
Stay the course: Not every company is backing away from DE&I, and some brands, including e.l.f. beauty and Ben & Jerry’s, have recently reaffirmed their commitment to diversity efforts in public statements. Costco shareholders voted nearly unanimously last week to reject a proposal from the conservative think tank the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) to evaluate risks with DE&I.
“We have always been purposefully nonpolitical, and a welcoming workforce has been integral to the company’s culture and values since its founding,” Tony James, Costco’s board chairman, said during the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
Apple, which has received a similar proposal from the NCPPR, and whose shareholders are set to vote on it next month, has pushed back against the motion through a statement from its board. And as anti-DE&I calls have escalated in the banking sector, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has indicated that he intends to push back on activist shareholders as well.
“Bring them on,” he told CNBC.
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