Media Reports: Meta and Amazon Scale Back Diversity Initiatives
Meta and Amazon are said to have made reductions to their diversity programs. Read Full Article at RT.com.
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Meta and Amazon have reportedly decided to discontinue their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, attributing this shift to political factors and concerns about perceptions of preferential treatment, according to multiple news outlets that referenced internal documents on Friday. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, communicated this change through a memo from Janelle Gale, its vice president of human resources.
“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” the memo states.
“The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” it adds.
Gale noted, “On hiring, we will continue to source candidates from different backgrounds, but we will stop using the Diverse Slate Approach,” as reported by Axios.
The memo also mentioned, “We previously ended representation goals for women and ethnic minorities. Having goals can create the impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender. While this has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it.”
In a separate development, a December memo from Amazon indicated that the company is “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to representation and inclusion, with a target completion date of the end of 2024.
“Rather than have individual groups build programs, we are focusing on programs with proven outcomes – and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture,” Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s vice president of inclusive experiences and technology, stated in a note to employees, as conveyed by CNBC.
Other major corporations, including McDonald’s, Ford, and Walmart, have also recently abandoned or scaled back their DEI initiatives. The practice of 'diversity hires' has faced criticism from conservatives, who argue that it is discriminatory and detrimental to business performance.
This change in approach comes in the wake of a 2023 US Supreme Court ruling that deemed the consideration of race in college admissions unconstitutional, which has sparked over 60 lawsuits challenging DEI practices in companies and institutions, according to The Guardian.
Mark B Thomas contributed to this report for TROIB News
“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” the memo states.
“The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” it adds.
Gale noted, “On hiring, we will continue to source candidates from different backgrounds, but we will stop using the Diverse Slate Approach,” as reported by Axios.
The memo also mentioned, “We previously ended representation goals for women and ethnic minorities. Having goals can create the impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender. While this has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it.”
In a separate development, a December memo from Amazon indicated that the company is “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to representation and inclusion, with a target completion date of the end of 2024.
“Rather than have individual groups build programs, we are focusing on programs with proven outcomes – and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture,” Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s vice president of inclusive experiences and technology, stated in a note to employees, as conveyed by CNBC.
Other major corporations, including McDonald’s, Ford, and Walmart, have also recently abandoned or scaled back their DEI initiatives. The practice of 'diversity hires' has faced criticism from conservatives, who argue that it is discriminatory and detrimental to business performance.
This change in approach comes in the wake of a 2023 US Supreme Court ruling that deemed the consideration of race in college admissions unconstitutional, which has sparked over 60 lawsuits challenging DEI practices in companies and institutions, according to The Guardian.
Mark B Thomas contributed to this report for TROIB News
