Walmart Backtracks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion DEI Programs After Right-Wing Backlash

() – Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, will slow some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. It is the latest company to back down on these types of initiatives in the face of pressure from the right, and its decisions will have repercussions in corporate America.

The company said Monday that it was ending racial equity training programs for staff and was evaluating programs designed to increase the diversity of its suppliers. Walmart has worked to increase the number of suppliers that are at least 51% owned or managed by a woman, minority, veteran, or someone who is part of the LGBTQ community.

The company is also reviewing all funding for Pride and similar events, and monitoring its online marketplace to remove sexual or transgender products aimed at minors. Walmart also said it will not extend its Racial Equity Center, a $100 million, five-year philanthropic commitment the company made in 2020 to address the root causes of gaps in educational outcomes for African Americans. health, criminal justice and other areas.

DEI is often a combination of employee training, resource networks, and hiring practices to encourage representation of people of different races, genders, classes, and other backgrounds.

It’s unclear what impact Walmart’s moves will have on its 1.6 million-employee U.S. workforce. More than half of its hourly employees and 42% of leadership are Black, according to the company’s latest data. But Walmart’s changes signal a broader pushback by companies on their diversity programs.

“We are ready to change together with our associates and customers who represent the entire US,” Walmart said in a statement. “We have taken a journey and we know that we are not perfect, but each decision arises from wanting to foster a sense of belonging.”

Activist Robby Starbuck, who has led a campaign to pressure companies over their diversity programs, took credit for many of the changes and said he had contacted the company about its policies.

“This is the biggest victory yet for our movement,” Starbuck said on X.

Starbuck, a former Hollywood music video director turned conservative activist, has been criticized for campaigning online against big companies’ DEI programs and other progressive initiatives.

With Monday’s decision, Walmart joins Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply Co., John Deere and other companies that have reviewed or rolled back their DEI programs, support for Pride parades and LGBTQ events, strategies to curb climate change and other social policies.

Many companies have moved away from DEI programs in the last two years.

In 2020, DEI initiatives increased after a wave of racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd. Companies spent an estimated $7.5 billion that year on DEI-related initiatives such as employee resources, according to a McKinsey study.

But some companies have recently backed down in the face of legal and political pressure.

Last year, Bud Light’s association with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney caused an anti-trans backlash and a months-long boycott against the beer brand. The boycott and the company’s subsequent lukewarm response likely cost parent company Anheuser-Busch InBe up to $1.4 billion in sales, according to the company.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges can no longer consider race in their student admissions, a landmark decision that overturned longstanding precedent that benefited Black and Latino students in higher education. Conservative legal groups have filed lawsuits against the companies’ diversity initiatives since then, and many companies began making changes in the wake of the decision.

Donald Trump’s election victory will likely accelerate many companies’ move away from formal DEI programs, experts say.

“The DEI infrastructure at most corporations was already weak even before Trump,” said Shaun Harper, a professor of education and business at the University of Southern California and founder and executive director of its Center on Race and Equity, in an interview with last week. “Trump’s election gives business leaders who were never compromised an easy way out.”

Harper expects to see a continued elimination of DEI and diversity officer roles at companies, less diversity training for employees, and a decline in the number of people of color and women in companies’ leadership ranks.

However, companies that stray from their commitments to diversity could be at odds with their own employees and harm talent retention strategies. DEI initiatives have been shown to reduce employee turnover and increase motivation, according to Boston Consulting Group research based on data from more than 27,000 employees in 16 countries.

“Employees are going to insist and demand that employers do something,” Harper said. “Those employers will be woefully ill-prepared to respond.”