Amazon is halting some of its diversity and inclusion initiatives, joining a growing list of major companies that have announced similar moves in the face of increasing public and legal scrutiny.
In an internal memo to employees last month obtained by CNBC, Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s vice president of inclusive experiences and technology, said the company was in the process of “winding down outdated programs and materials” as part of a broader review of hundreds of initiatives “.
“Rather than letting individual groups create programs, we focus on programs with proven results — and we also want to foster a truly inclusive culture,” Castleberry wrote in the Dec. 16 note, which was first reported by Bloomberg.
Castleberry’s memo does not specify which programs the company is discontinuing as a result of its review.
Meta made a similar retreat from its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on Friday. The social media company announced that it is ending its approach to considering qualified candidates from underrepresented groups for open positions and its equity and inclusion training programs. The decision was met with backlash from Meta employees, including one employee who wrote: “If you don’t stand by your principles in difficult times, those aren’t values. They’re hobbies.”
Other companies including McDonald’s, Walmart And ford have also made changes to their DEI initiatives in recent months. Increasing conservative backlash and the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in 2023 led many companies to modify or abandon their DEI programs.
Amazon, the country’s second-largest private employer after Walmart, also recently made changes to its “Our Positions” webpage, which outlines the company’s stance on various political issues. Previously, there were separate sections dedicated to Black Equality, Diversity, Justice and Inclusion, and LGBTQ+ Rights, recordings from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine show.
On the current website, these sections have been combined into a single paragraph. The section states that Amazon believes in creating a diverse and inclusive company and that treating anyone unequally is unacceptable. The Information previously reported on the changes.
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel told CNBC in a statement: “We update this page from time to time to ensure that it reflects updates we have made to various programs and positions.”
Read the full memo from Amazon’s Castleberry:
Team,
As we approach the end of the year, I would like to provide another update on our work in representation and inclusion.
As a large, global company operating across multiple countries and industries, we serve hundreds of millions of customers from diverse backgrounds and diverse communities around the world. To serve them effectively, we need millions of employees and partners who reflect our customers and communities. We strive to be representative of these customers and build a culture that is inclusive.
Over the past few years, we’ve taken a new approach by reviewing hundreds of programs across the company and using science to evaluate their effectiveness, impact and ROI – to identify those we believe should continue. Each of these addresses a particular inequality and is intended to end when that inequality is eliminated. In parallel, we have worked to unite employee groups under one roof and develop programs that are open to everyone. Rather than letting individual groups create programs, we focus on programs with proven results – and we also strive to foster a truly more inclusive culture. You can read more about this on our website Together on the Amazon page from 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 permanent – is the evolution towards being “built in” and “born inclusive” rather than “bolted on.” . “As part of this evolution, we have eliminated outdated programs and materials and aim to complete this by the end of 2024. We also recognize that there will always be individuals or teams who continue to do well-intentioned things that are not consistent with our company-wide approach and we recognize them Maybe not always right away, but we’ll keep at it.
We will continue to provide ongoing updates and thank you for your hard work in driving this progress. We believe this is important work, so we will continue to invest in programs that help us reflect these audiences, help employees grow, thrive and connect, and we remain committed to providing inclusive experiences for customers , employees and communities around the world.
#InThisTogether,
Candi