US retail giant Walmart has announced plans to slash some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including cutting back on its racial equity training and ending its involvement in a rankings list by an LGBTQI+ advocacy group.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Walmart confirmed the reports initially released by Bloomberg News, which revealed that the retailer will no longer consider race and gender to improve diversity when accepting supplier contracts and that eligibility for financing will no longer be measured based on suppliers giving certain demographic data.
“We are willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America,” the spokesperson said.
The company also released a statement: “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.”
Walmart announced an end to further funding of The Center for Racial Equity, a philanthropic investments branch of the company that, according to its website, supports “research, advocacy, and innovative interventions that foster equitable outcomes for people” while also “address the root causes of gaps in outcomes experienced by Black and African American people in education, health, finance and criminal justice systems.”
The company will also stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual benchmark index that assesses workplace inclusion for LGBTQI+ employees, and has promised to stop using the term ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” in its communications.
The world’s largest retailer, which employs 1.6 million people in the US, said it does not have quotas and has no plans to enact any.
Walmart now joins a growing list of companies in the US that have modified or cut back on their DEI policies in the last 12 months in response to pressure from conservative groups. They include Starbucks, JP Morgan Chase, Lowe’s, Tractor Supply, Ford and Brown-Forman — the maker of Jack Daniel’s whisky.
On Tuesday morning, president and CEO of Walmart US, John Furner said that his company’s decision to roll back its DEI policies was to “ensure every customer, every associate” feels welcome and a sense of belonging.
“Like many companies all across the United States, we’ve been on a journey and we continue to be on a journey,” Furner said in an interview with CBS Mornings. “And what we’re trying to do is to ensure that every customer, every associate feels welcome here to shop. And to feel like they belong.”
“We’re going to continue to make the best decisions we can that makes everyone – our customers, our associates – feel like this is an environment they can shop in and thrive in.”
“We’ll continue to do the things we can do to ensure small suppliers have a path to be successful. We’re going to focus on products and values.”
President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans on banning DEI initiatives in workplaces and educational institutions on the first day of his administration. Most recently, he appointed Stephen Miller, the head of America First Legal, as his deputy chief of policy. Miller’s organisation has challenged corporate DEI policies, using the courts to block diversity programs.