Dive Brief:
- A group of Congressional Democrats is calling on the CEOs of the largest U.S. companies to affirm their commitment to supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the workplace amid heightened scrutiny of such programs and a flood of recent policy walk backs.
- Forty-nine House Democrats, led by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), addressed the nation’s top executives leading Fortune 1,000 companies in an open letter Oct. 15, asking them to “reject division” and continue backing DEI programs. The lawmakers argued such programs decrease the risk of employees and consumers experiencing “discrimination, bias, and other threats to their safety and well-being.”
- The letter’s signatories — which include Reps. Yvette D. Clarke and Bennie Thompson of New York and Mississippi, respectively — also made the business case for DEI. The Democrats wrote that adopting policies that promote diversity and equality allows companies to remain competitive and attract and retain the best talent “without sacrificing quality of financial success.”
Dive Insight:
The Oct. 15 letter cited research from McKinsey & Company and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that found corporate environments where the workforce is representative of the nation’s gender and racial diversity are more likely to outperform their competitors, improve business revenue, boost employee productivity, increase retention, bolster workplace morale and encourage innovation.
The Congressional Democrats said companies’ decisions to end DEI programs not only jeopardizes the well-being of its employees but also takes away business benefits. They said the decisions could prompt consumers to seek similar products and services elsewhere and workers to find alternative employment.
“Consumers and employees alike deserve to feel welcome, comfortable, and equipped to succeed by American businesses,” the letter concluded. “It would be a mistake for any company to minimize or abandon your efforts to ensure that everyone can have access to quality jobs, goods, and services.”
The call to support corporate DEI programs comes on the heels of several corporations diluting previously announced initiatives or scrapping them altogether.
Just this year, Tractor Supply eliminated its DEI roles and ended support for Pride events and voting efforts. This was followed by Microsoft cutting two diversity-related roles, Harley Davidson announcing a DEI pullback and the maker of Jack Daniel’s following suit by eliminating several DEI programs in response to a shifting “legal and external landscape,” as described to ESG Dive’s sister publication, HR Dive. Subsequently, Ford, Molson Coors and Lowe’s also unveiled shifts to their DEI strategies.