Fast-food giant also renames diversity team 'Global Inclusion Team'
McDonald's has joined the growing number of organisations that are making changes to their diversity practices in the wake of Corporate America's withdrawal from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
The fast-food giant told employees this week that it is renaming its diversity team to a "Global Inclusion Team."
"This name change is more fitting for McDonald's in light of our inclusion value and better aligns with this team's work," the company's leaders told employees in an email.
The email, which was eventually published on the corporation's website, also announced the following changes to its diversity practices:
"McDonald's position and our commitment to inclusion is steadfast," it said. "Since our founding, we've prided ourselves on understanding that the foundation of our business is people."
Shifting DEI landscape
In 2023, McDonald's received a warning from an Ohio-based asset management firm, Strive, that cautioned its DEI practices at work may lead to legal actions following a Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional and unlawful Harvard College's inclusion of race as a factor in college admission policies.
McDonald's latest announcement did not refer to Strive's warning, but it did attribute the decision to the court ruling.
"Following the Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, we also assessed the shifting legal landscape to anticipate how this ruling may impact corporations such as McDonald's," the company said.
The fast-food giant also noted that it benchmarked its approach to other companies that are evaluating their own DEI programmes.
The previous year saw various organisations in the US scaling back on their DEI policies following conservative backlash. These companies include Tractor Supply, Walmart, Toyota, Harley-Davidson, among others.
Supermarket giant Costco also recently received a proposal aimed at ending its DEI, but its board unanimously recommended a vote against the move.
Former Merck CEO Ken Frazier and former American Express CEO Ken Chenault previously warned organisations scaling back on DEI that this may limit opportunities for those facing systemic disadvantages.
According to them, many talented individuals may miss out on leadership opportunities due to a lack of DEI programmes.
"At its best, DEI is about developing talent, measuring it in a fair way and finding hidden talent and disadvantaged talent in a world where not everybody has an equal chance to exhibit their abilities," Frazier previously said.
