Amazon to stop some of its DEI programs: Internal memo

Amazon has said it is halting some of its diversity and inclusion initiatives, joining a growing list of large corporations that have made similar moves in the face of increasing public and legal scrutiny.

In a Dec. 16 internal memo to employees obtained by CNBC, Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s VP of inclusive experience and technology, said the company was in the process of “eliminating outdated programs and materials” as part of a broader review of hundreds. of initiatives

“Rather than individual groups building programs, we are focusing on programs with proven results, and aim to foster a truly more inclusive culture,” Castleberry wrote in the statement. Bloomberg.

Castleberry’s memo does not say which programs the company is removing as a result of its review. The company typically releases annual data on the racial and gender makeup of its workforce, which also covers Black, LGBTQ+, Indigenous and veterans. employee resource groupsamong others

In 2020, Amazon set a goal to double the number of Black employees in vice president and CEO positions. He announced the same goal in 2021 and also committed to hiring 30% black workers for product managers, engineers and other corporate roles.

Goal on Friday he made a similar retreat from its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The social media company said it is ending its approach to consider qualified candidates from underrepresented groups for open roles and for its equity and inclusion training programs. The decision prompted backlash from Meta staff, including: “If you don’t stand up for your principles when the going gets tough, they’re not values. They’re hobbies.”

Other companies, among others McDonald’s, Walmart and Fordbecause made changes to their DEI initiatives in the last months The rise of conservative reactions and of the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in 2023 prompted many corporations to change or discontinue DEI programs.

Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private employer behind Walmart, has also recently made changes. “Our Positions” website that outlines the company’s position on various policy issues. Previously, there were separate sections titled “Equity for Black People”, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” and “LGBTQ+ Rights”. records From the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

The current web page has simplified these sections into a single paragraph. The section says that Amazon believes in creating a diverse and inclusive company and that unfair treatment of anyone is unacceptable. information previously reported changes.

Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel told CNBC in a statement, “We update this page from time to time to make sure it reflects updates we’ve made to various programs and positions.”

Read Castleberry’s full release on Amazon:

team,

As we approach the end of the year, I want to give another update on the work we’re doing around representation and inclusion.

As a large, global company operating across countries and industries, we serve hundreds of millions of customers from diverse backgrounds and communities around the world. To serve them effectively, we need millions of employees and partners who reflect our customers and communities. We strive to represent these customers and build a culture that is inclusive for everyone.

In recent years we’ve taken a fresh approach, reviewing hundreds of enterprise-wide programs, using science to evaluate their effectiveness, impact and ROI, identifying those we believe should be pursued. Each of them addresses a specific inequality, and is designed to end when that inequality is eliminated. At the same time, we worked to unite groups of workers under one umbrella and build programs open to all. Instead of individual teams building programs, we’re focusing on programs with proven results, and aim to foster a truly more inclusive culture. You can read more about this on our website Together on the Amazon page of A to Z.

This approach—where we move away from programs that were separate from our existing processes and instead integrate our work into existing processes to make them sustainable—is an evolution to “build” and “born inclusive,” rather than “forward.” “As part of that evolution, we’re ending outdated programs and materials, which we aim to do by the end of 2024. We also know that there will always be people or groups who will continue to do well-intentioned things that don’t align with our company-wide vision, and may not. We will always see them immediately, but we will continue to do so.

We’ll continue to share regular updates, and we appreciate your hard work driving this progress. We believe it’s important work, so we’ll continue to invest in programs that help us reflect those audiences, grow, grow and connect employees, and remain dedicated to providing inclusive experiences for customers, employees and communities around the world.

#Together in this,

Candy