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In recent weeks, a notable shift has occurred in the corporate landscape of the US. Several high-profile companies, including Ford, Jack Daniel's, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson, have announced significant changes to their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
The main aspect of that “change” being that they have ditched them completely.
What is more, they have done it in rapid succession; over weeks they have fallen like dominos to the extent that you can only assume there is not much independent thinking going on here. But what is driving it?
There has been pushback on DEI initiatives from conservative quarters for some while. As a result, Zoom replaced its internal diversity and inclusion team with consultants, PwC dropped several of its diversity targets, while the Republican Attorney Generals of 13 different states sent a letter to the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies threatening legal consequences if they continued with diverse hiring and other programs designed to promote equality of opportunity.
“Treating people differently because of the color of their skin, even for benign purposes, is unlawful and wrong”, said the letter.
Who is Robby Starbuck?
Over the past few weeks, however, there has been an acceleration in the number of companies abandoning their DEI programs and one man is taking most of the credit for it.
Robby Starbuck, a failed congressional candidate, anti-vaxxer, climate change denier, and social media influencer with half a million followers, seems to have worked out that companies with a certain kind of brand profile (call it a certain ‘macho appeal’ if you will) and with large older, ‘conservative’ customer bases are not keen on any kind of idea DEI initiatives. But it is framed as an argument for equality across the board and support for a meritocracy.
The most recent follower of the trend is the Ford Motor Company. The automotive giant recently announced that it would no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a benchmark tool for corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Ford also stated it would not use quotas for minority dealerships and suppliers, marking a significant shift in its DEI approach.
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson offered no quarter in responding with the following statement: “Today, Ford Motor Company abandoned its commitment to hundreds of thousands of employees by cowering to internet troll Robby Starbuck and signaling that inclusion and other core values are no longer a priority in the workplace.
“After decades of commitment to inclusion and top ratings on the HRC Foundation Corporate Equality Index, the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Disability:IN’s Disability Equality Index as well as their longstanding philanthropic record funding scholarships for Hispanic students, the Human Rights Campaign could not be more disappointed to see Ford Motor Company shirking its responsibility to its employees, consumers, and shareholders. By failing to support women leaders, employees of color, and LGBTQ+ employees, Ford Motor Company is abandoning its financial duty to recruit and keep top talent from across the full talent pool. In making their purchasing decisions, consumers should take note that Ford Motor Company has abandoned its commitment to our communities.
“Ford cowered to MAGA bully and Republican-reject Robby Starbuck. Robby Starbuck is so extreme that the Tennessee Republican Party sought to distance itself from him. Starbuck’s only business experience is hawking vitamins marketed by people profiting off COVID disinformation.
“Ford Motor Company’s shortsighted decisions will have long-term consequences. Hastily abandoning efforts that ensure fair, safe, and inclusive work environments is bad for business and leaves Ford’s employees and millions of LGBTQ+-allied consumers behind. With nearly 30% of Gen Z identifying as LGBTQ+ and the community wielding $1.4 trillion in spending power, retreating from these principles undermines both consumer trust and employee success.”
Legal action against DEI
Starbuck has been at the forefront of a campaign targeting corporate DEI initiatives. Using his substantial social media following, he has rallied supporters to pressure companies into scaling back or eliminating their DEI programs. He argues that these programs are divisive and discriminatory, framing them as antithetical to merit-based systems.
The success of his campaign highlights the growing influence of social media activism on corporate decision-making. Companies, increasingly sensitive to public perception and the potential for boycotts, are responding to those pressures by reevaluating their DEI commitments.
Conservative activists, buoyed by their legal victory, have launched further legal challenges against corporate DEI initiatives, arguing that they violate anti-discrimination laws. Such legal uncertainty has contributed to some companies' decisions to scale back their programs.
While external pressure is a significant factor, there are also internal motivations behind the decisions.
Some factors include:
Risk Mitigation: Companies may be seeking to avoid potential legal challenges to their DEI programs.
Political Neutrality: In an increasingly polarized environment, some corporations want to appear politically neutral by scaling back “controversial” programs.
Cost-cutting: DEI initiatives can be resource-intensive, and some companies may see this as an opportunity to reduce expenses
Shifting Priorities: Some corporations may be reevaluating the effectiveness of their DEI programs and redirecting resources to other initiatives.
More than anything else, however, what Starbuck has unwittingly exposed is not the unfair or even illegal nature of DEI programs but rather the fact that those companies now backing out of it were never really committed in the first place.
Many proponents of DEI agree that it works best when aligned with corporate and cultural strategy and is, in fact, a business imperative. Pitching it that way is also the best way to gain boardroom buy-in for it.
So, if it means less in the way of badly-executed, box-ticking DEI programs that provide cover for a different kind of culture then it may not be a bad thing in the long run.
Those companies that remain committed to achieving diversity and equality in their workplace are now poised to attract the best talent regardless of their background.
One thing is sure, at Ford, at Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniels, John Deere, and the others that will no doubt follow shortly, people of color, those from the LBGTQIA+ community and other groups may think twice about answering their job ads.
That can’t have been the point. Surely?
