Federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a.k.a DEI programs, are coming to an end under Donald Trump‘s administration. The president announced in an executive order that he placed government DEI workers on paid leave as the fate of their employment hangs in the balance. Now, large corporations — such as Walmart, Costco and Target — in the United States are either scaling back their internal DEI programs or maintaining them.
Find out what several American corporations are doing with their DEI recruitment and employment programs.
Target’s New DEI Policy
On January 24, 2025, Target announced a new plan for its “belonging to the bullseye” strategy. According to CBS News, the retailer is ending a program that helped Black employees build careers, improve Black customers’ shopping experience and promote Black-owned businesses around the country.
“Throughout 2025, we’ll be accelerating action in key areas and implementing changes with the goal of driving growth and staying in step with the evolving external landscape,” Target announced in a statement.
Target is ending its DEI initiatives. 👏 pic.twitter.com/IkwPIK36yV
— Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) January 24, 2025
The announcement also listed the following actions that Target will terminate:
- Ending a three-year diversity, equity and inclusion goals
- Ending its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives “as planned”
- Ensuring its employee resource groups are communities focused on development and mentorship
- Evaluating its corporate partnerships to ensure they are “directly connected to [Target’s] roadmap for growth”
- Stopping diversity-focused surveys, including HRC’s Corporate Equality Index
- Evolving its “Supplier Diversity” team to “Supplier Engagement” in order to reflect Target’s “inclusive global procurement process across a broad range of suppliers, including increasing [its] focus on small businesses”
According to CBS News, Target’s chief community impact and equity officer, Kiera Fernandez, wrote a memo to staff members, which read, “Many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy. And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future.”
Walmart’s DEI Policy
According to multiple outlets, Walmart announced its initiative to scale back its DEI programs in November 2024. Among the changes are to review certain grants to Pride events to ensure that Walmart is not financially funding sexual content that could be unsuitable for underage children (i.e. Walmart said a family pavilion shouldn’t be next to a drag show, according to the Associated Press).
“We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone,” the retain chain said in a statement.
Costco’s DEI Policy
A majority of Costco’s shareholders voted against one shareholder’s proposal to evaluate its diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Per CBS News, the anonymous investor issued a statement saying, “Diversity, equity and inclusion may sound benign on the surface, but in reality it is weaponized language concealing a radical Marxist agenda” and claimed that DEI “comes at the expense of merit by not hiring and promoting completely, irrespective of race and sex.”
About 98 percent of Costco’s shareholders rejected the investor’s anti-DEI proposal.
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