Walmart won't be last company to pull back on DEI
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Companies in the U.S. were already backing off on DEI, then Walmart entered the chat: This week the retail giant said it would cut back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Why it matters: Walmart is the largest private employer in the country, and where it goes others are likely to follow.
Between the lines: This is a win for Robby Starbuck, a 35-year-old "anti-woke" music producer-turned-activist who's pushed around a dozen companies to retreat on DEI this year. He first announced Walmart's move — and took credit for it — in a post on X Monday.
- "I've been talking to companies who will be following in their footsteps," Starbuck tells Axios over email. "I do have a list of targets," he adds, saying he keeps those names private.
- "Companies have tried every different tactic to deal with us and they all failed," he says. "Walmart smartly decided to just fix this together. I encourage other companies to work with us to do the same."
State of play: Walmart will phase out the term "diversity, equity and inclusion." It is also:
- Reviewing supplier diversity programs to ensure that they don't provide preferential treatment.
- Discontinuing the use of the controversial term Latinx.
- Pulling out of the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index — a scorecard for a business's commitment to LGBTQ+ equality and causes.
- Wrapping up a five-year commitment to the Center for Racial Equity, which began in 2020.
Some of these changes, like the supplier diversity update, were already underway before this week, according to a source close to the situation.
Reality check: A lot of this is symbolic. It appears that Walmart will continue an internal upskilling program that's been successful in promoting Black and Hispanic employees.
Zoom out: Symbolism still matters — quite a lot, says Frank Dobbin, a Harvard professor who's studied corporate diversity initiatives for the past decade.
- "In a company that's had a history of mostly being led by white people, certainly at the top, that's not sending a message that we want you to succeed whatever your race or gender."
- Prospective workers of color and current workers of color could feel the chill — and Dobbin says that could hurt recruiting for the firm.
Yes, but: "I'd say that assertion is hilarious because I'm a Latino man with a mixed ethnic background and I was a big motivation for them dropping these woke policies," Starbuck tells Axios.
- "People of all racial backgrounds are sick of woke policies and leftism being shoved down our throats."
Flashback: Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was among most vocal and prominent among Fortune 100 chief executives to speak out publicly about the company's commitment to racial justice back in 2020.
- "Inside the company, our work to recruit, develop and support African Americans and other people of color will be even more of a priority," he said in a statement in June 2020, announcing a $100 million commitment to a new center on racial equity.
Walmart's statement now: "We've been on a journey and know we aren't perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with corrected information from Walmart to say it's not ending supplier diversity programs (but reviewing them to ensure they don't provide preferential treatment) and that it's wrapping up a five-year commitment to the Center for Racial Equity (not ending training through it).
