Meta and Amazon roll back DEI programs – media

The companies are reportedly dropping commitments to consider race and gender in their hiring process

Meta and Amazon have ended their diversity, equity, and inclusions (DEI) programs, citing political considerations and perceptions of preferential treatment, multiple news outlets reported on Friday, citing internal documents. Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. 

Axios published what it said is a memo sent to staffers by Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources.

“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” the document reads.

“The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” the memo continues. 

“On hiring, we will continue to source candidates from different backgrounds, but we will stop using the Diverse Slate Approach,” Gale wrote, according to Axios. 

“We previously ended representation goals for women and ethnic minorities. Having goals can create the impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender. While this has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it,” the document says.

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Reuters cited a December memo from Amazon saying that the retail giant was “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to representation and inclusion, with the goal of completing the process by the end of 2024. 

“Rather than have individual groups build programs, we are focusing on programs with proven outcomes – and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture,” Amazon’s vice president of inclusive experiences and technology, Candi Castleberry, wrote in a note to employees, according to CNBC. 

McDonald’s, Ford, and Walmart are among the major corporations that abandoned or rolled back their DEI programs in recent months. The practice of ‘diversity hires’ has long been criticized by conservatives as discriminatory and damaging to the companies’ performance.

In 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled that the policy of considering race during college admission is unconstitutional. The ruling encouraged more than 60 lawsuits challenging DEI in companies and institutions, according to The Guardian.