By Arriana McLymore
(Reuters) -Amazon.com removed a reference to “inclusion and diversity” in its annual report filed on Thursday, after it told employees in a December memo that it was winding down its programs as part of corporate America’s broader retreat from such policies.
Some of America’s biggest businesses have been scaling back diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.
President Donald Trump and his administration have targeted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies inside and outside the government. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday in a note to staff said the Justice Department would “investigate, eliminate, and penalize” illegal diversity programs in the private sector.
For the last two years, Amazon’s “human capital” section of its annual report said: “As we strive to be Earth’s best employer, we focus on investment and innovation, inclusion and diversity, safety, and engagement to hire and develop the best talent.”
In the 2024 version, that sentence has been cut.
The company also cut a reference to a goal to “promote equity” in a sentence about continuing efforts to refine employee hiring and development.
Amazon’s website states it is “committed to creating a diverse and inclusive company.
In December, Amazon executive Candi Castleberry said in a letter to employees that it is “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to DEI by the end of 2024. As part of the change, individual groups would no longer be responsible for building programs and initiatives would be integrated into “existing processes.”
“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,” Castleberry said in the note.
Amazon did not comment on whether it would remove or rename DEI employee positions.
Big technology companies Meta Platforms and Alphabet’s Google are among those rolling back programs in the face of attacks from conservative groups, who have threatened to sue firms over them.
Disney’s 2024 annual report, which was published in September, removed mentions of its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program, which was an online space for “amplifying underrepresented voices” featuring some of Disney’s diversity, equality and inclusion commitments and actions. However, it added a DEI initiative to hire U.S. military veterans.
Twelve state attorneys general, including New York, California and Washington, last week issued a joint statement in opposition to Trump’s characterization of DEI saying they are “committed to enforcing federal and state civil rights laws to protect” workers from discriminatory practices.
(Reporting By Arriana McLymore; writing by David Gaffen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Louise Heavens)
