Donald Trump's Former Employer McDonald's Announces Walkback of DEI Practices

Not a complete abandonment, but a reduction.

McDonald's is the latest US corporation -- and among the largest -- to back off some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, as a Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and conservative backlash to those programs continues to lead businesses to reevaluate their diversity pledges.

The company in a statement Monday said it is sunsetting its specific diversity goals, including requiring its suppliers to commit to certain DEI targets. And it will stop participating in external surveys that measure corporate diversity.

McDonald's is also changing the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team -- a common practice for many other companies that have rolled back diversity pledges.

Name-changing isn't going to fool us.

"This name change is more fitting for McDonald's in light of our inclusion value and better aligns with this team's work," McDonald's said in the statement.

But the company said it has not abandoned its mission to maintain a diverse workforce. Instead, McDonald said that it will continue to support practices that foster inclusion in the workplace and across its operations, and it will work with its suppliers and vendors to discuss diversity and inclusion practices.

...

The company said its new position was driven by a recent Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and other corporations reevaluating their diversity initiatives. Online pressure, legal threats and customer opposition have led many companies, including Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere and others to make changes to their DEI initiatives.

But some observers say that many high-profile corporate moves on DEI aren't as large a change as they might seem.

"DEI isn't going away. It's just changing," J. Danielle Carr, chief officer of inclusion at Lowenstein Sandler and president of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals, told CNN in December. The organization found that just 14 of the Fortune 500 companies made any public changes to their DEI teams or programs in 2024.

Costco remains all-in on DEI:

Meanwhile, Costco recently acknowledged that the benefits of its DEI policies proved too rewarding to back down, despite backlash from activist shareholders aiming to end the company's ambitions.

"Too rewarding."

We should change that calculation.

Supposedly, Larry Fink of BlackRock, which controls corporations by controlling massive retirement funds invested in those companies, is considering walking back his woke company's commitment to "Net Zero" carbon emissions.

Charles Gasparino @CGasparino

SCOOP: In a stunning reversal of years making ESG investing a priority and a huge blow the corporate sustainability movement, @BlackRock is considering exiting the so-called "Net Zero Alliance," the @UN sponsored coalition of top corporations who pledge to reach zero-carbon emissions by 2050, people with direct knowledge tell me.

Other large asset managers considering such a move include @StateStreet and @JPMorganAM. No final decisions have been made but this is a significant move, I am told. It comes as pressure grows on big businesses to reverse their woke business agenda such as DEI and Environmental Social Governance investing, where asset managers prod portfolio companies to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint and enact other so-called progressive policies. $BLK even weighing such a move is an important marker because it's the largest asset manager and had been on the forefront of ESG investing.

It comes after @jpmorgan bank @GoldmanSachs and other big banks announced their departure from the alliance, and growing pressure from the incoming @realDonaldTrump administration to reverse corporate wokeness. The larger story is detailed in my book "Go Woke Go Broke' buy here: https://amazon.com/Go-Woke-Broke-Radicalization-Corporate/dp/1546007415
Story developing in @nypost

Elections have consequences.

posted by Ace at 02:22 PM

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