‘Apple is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate’
While other big names such as Meta and Amazon are withdrawing DEI policies, Apple's board of directors recently shot down a request asking the company to abolish its DEI programme, policies, department and goals.
"The proposal is unnecessary as Apple already has a well-established compliance programme," the board said in a proxy filing. "Apple is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training, or promoting on any basis protected by law."
The board further accused the proposal of "inappropriately" seeking to micromanage" the company's programmes and policies.
"The proposal also inappropriately attempts to restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own ordinary business operations, people and teams, and business strategies," it said in the proxy.
The proposal came from the National Centre for Public Policy Research, which was also behind the request to Costco to evaluate and report the risks of maintaining its DEI roles, policies, and goals.
Similar to Apple, Costco's board also recommended a vote against the proposal.
Meta pushes back against DEI
Meta recently told employees in a memo that it is eliminating its DEI team, ending its equity and inclusion programmes, and will be changing hiring and supplier diversity practices, CNN reported.
According to the memo, Meta's chief diversity officer Maxine Williams will take a new role on "accessibility and engagement."
Meta will also no longer require the sourcing of candidates from underrepresented groups, and will also end its practice of hiring minority-owned vendors and suppliers.
Janelle Gale, Meta's vice president of human resources, said in the memo that the change is due to the shifting legal and policy landscape surrounding DEI efforts in the US.
"The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signalling a shift in how courts will approach DEI," Gale said as quoted by CNN.
"It reaffirms longstanding principles that discrimination should not be tolerated or promoted on the basis of inherent characteristics."
The note referred to a US Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional and unlawful Harvard College's inclusion of race as a factor in college admission policies.
This is also the reason that McDonald's cited in its recent decision to end some of its DEI practices.
Amazon also alters DEI
Meanwhile, Amazon also informed employees that it is putting an end to some of its DEI programmes, according to a CNBC report.
The report quoted Candi Castleberry, Amazon's VP of inclusive experiences and technology, as saying that the company is "winding down outdated programmes and materials."
"Rather than have individual groups build programmes, we are focusing on programmes with proven outcomes — and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture," Castleberry said in the memo as quoted by CNBC.
"This approach — where we move away from programmes that were separate from our existing processes, and instead integrate our work into existing processes so they become durable — is the evolution to 'built in' and 'born inclusive,' instead of 'bolted on.'"
Amazon and Meta join the growing list of organisations that are scaling down their DEI initiatives. Other firms that made similar announcements include Walmart, Tractor Supply, Toyota, among others.
