US companies are rolling back DEI programs to critics’ praise

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They are corporations on the front line of a culture war: Harley Davidson, John Deere, home improvement retailer Lowe's and now Ford Motor Co.

The companies are rolling back some, or even all, of their programs and commitments promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the workforce —DEI, for short.

Companies invested heavily in DEI programs in 2020, spurred in part by the death of George Floyd. But more recently, DEI programs have become a prime target for some conservative groups and activists like Robby Starbuck.

"I'm excited to announce another win in our movement to eliminate wokeness in corporate America," Starbuck told his followers this week via social media posts. "This movement wants something very simple. Neutrality and sanity in the workplace again. Social political issues that divide people and identity politics do not belong in the workplace."

Starbuck is now claiming victory at Ford after the automaker sent a memo to employees saying it's changing its DEI strategy, including pulling out of an annual tracking survey by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.

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"Ford and other companies are abandoning their commitment to hundreds of thousands of employees, to millions of customers in short-sighted services to the rantings of a bizarre internet troll named Robby Starbuck," said Brandon Wolf, national press secretary with the Human Rights Campaign.

Ford declined to comment, directing Scripps News to an internal memo which Starbuck posted online. Starbuck also declined a request for an interview.

Recent headlines aside, many companies say they still believe in DEI. According to a poll from The Washington Post and Ipsos, 61% of Americans think DEI programs are a "good thing."

And in a recent survey of more than 300 company executives conducted by Morning Consult and the Public Private Strategies Institute, 82% say diversity is "essential to their business strategy." The executives cite reasons like gains in the bottom line, attracting top talent and boosting creativity and innovation.

Other companies question DEI's effectiveness or, like rural farm equipment retailer Tractor Supply, say they're eliminating DEI goals because "We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them."

"The companies that are withdrawing from DEI right now are the companies that never actually made a big enough step towards embedding DEI, which is why it's so easy for them to let go," said Lily Zheng, DEI strategist and consultant.

RELATED STORY | Florida passes rule to 'permanently prohibit' DEI at public colleges

However, some critics and academics question whether DEI programs really work. In a 2023 study published in the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine, researchers at Boston University found that despite billions of dollars invested in DEI training every year, there is little evidence about what works and what doesn't.

Zheng says companies that put in the difficult, long-term work to create a more equitable workplace can find success over companies that only pay lip service to DEI initiatives.

"The best AI strategies I've seen are companies that say things like, 'We want to make sure that everyone in our company is being treated inclusively and respectfully'," Zheng says. "The shortsighted way to do that would be once a year have a one-hour 'Let's treat everyone respectfully' conversation. That's not going to do anything."

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