Following what some other corporations—including Harley-Davidson, MolsonCoors, John Deere, Ford and Walmart—have done, McDonald’s is rolling back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, according to CNN.
McDonald’s—which has its global headquarters in Chicago’s West Loop—also said that it is no longer participating in external surveys that measure corporate diversity. In addition, it plans on changing the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team, as some other companies have done.
The company said its new position was driven by a recent Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and other corporations rethinking their diversity initiatives, in part because of conservative pressure from activists such as Robby Starbuck.
In a statement sent to Windy City Times, McDonald’s said, “After carefully considering how our inclusion policies would evolve over recent months, we wanted to communicate our updated approach at the top of the year (2025). … Our commitment to inclusion is steadfast. Over our nearly 70-year history, we have always welcomed everyone and will continue to do so.” The company added that it remains focused on “building a diverse employee, registered applicant and supplier pipeline,” “tracking and publicly disclosing the demographic makeup of the three legs of our stool” and “our support of operator and employee affinity groups,” among other tenets. McDonald’s also listed what is evolving at the company, which includes “retiring setting aspirational representation goals and instead keeping our focus on continuing to embed inclusion practices that grow our business,” and “retiring Supply Chain’s Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge in favor of a more integrated discussion with suppliers about inclusion as it relates to business performance.”
Meanwhile, Costco recently stated that the benefits of its DEI policies proved too rewarding to back down, despite pushback from activist shareholders. “The renamed program [now called “People and Communities”] still openly expresses a “commitment to equity” (which means equality of outcome, not opportunity), still employs a “Chief Diversity Officer,” still has a supplier diversity program that picks suppliers based on their race and sex, still appears to factor in race and sex in hiring and promotion, and still contributes shareholder money to organizations that advance the discriminatory agenda of DEI,” it said in a proxy vote statement. “All of these practices are staples of corporate DEI programs and are consistent with Costco’s DEI program prior to its rebranding.”