Panelists Jennifer Sey and Daniel Cameron discuss how big companies are getting back on track with DEI and environmental, social and governance initiatives in ‘The Bottom Line.’
Amazon is rolling back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, becoming the latest major company to make changes to programs like these that critics have deemed “rebellious.”
In a message to employees last month, Amazon’s human resources chief, Candi Castleberry, announced updates to the company’s advocacy and inclusion efforts, saying the e-commerce giant will make some changes after spending the past few years “[ing] their performance.”
In this image, a shopping cart appears in front of the Amazon logo. The company specializes in e-commerce, cloud computing, broadcasting and artificial intelligence. (Image credit by Jaque Silva/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“We have worked to bring groups of employees together under one umbrella, and create programs that are open to everyone,” reads the memo, obtained by FOX Business. “Rather than individual teams creating programs, we focus on programs with proven results – and aim to foster a truly inclusive culture.”
The release of the memo, first reported by Bloomberg on Friday, follows a report earlier in the day from The Information, which indicated that Amazon had recently scrubbed sections titled Equity for Black people and LGBTQ+ rights from its “Our Positions” page. website.
In response, Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a statement, “We update this page periodically to make sure it reflects the updates we’ve made to various programs and positions.”
Amazon is the latest of many companies to scale back DEI programs in the past year, following retail giant Walmart, as well as Ford, Caterpillar, John Deere and Toyota. However, Amazon has been more subtle in its move, unlike others such as Meta, which announced major changes to its DEI policies earlier Friday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.