Panelists Jennifer Say and Daniel Cameron discuss how big companies are leaving DEI and environmental, social and governance programs behind on 'The Bottom Line'.
Amazon is scaling back on some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, becoming the latest major corporation to make cuts to such initiatives that critics have deemed “catastrophic.”
In a message to employees last month, Amazon human resources executive Candy Castleberry announced an update on the company's representation and inclusion efforts and said the e-commerce giant would make some changes after spending the past few years “evaluating.”[ing] their effectiveness.”
In this photo illustration, a shopping cart appears in front of the Amazon logo. The company focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, streaming and artificial intelligence. (Photo illustration by Jake Silva / Sopa Images / Light Rocket via JT Images / Getty Images)
“We worked to bring employee groups together under one umbrella and create programs that are open to all,” reads the memo obtained by Fox Business. “Rather than individual groups creating programs, we're focusing on programs with proven results—and we aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture.”
The release of the memo, first reported by Bloomberg on Friday, follows a report earlier in the day by The Information, which showed that Amazon had recently scrubbed sections titled equity for black people and LGBTQ+ rights from its “Where We Are” page. website
In response, Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a statement, “We update this page from time to time to make sure it reflects updates we've made to various programs and locations.”
Amazon is among the latest companies to roll back DEI initiatives in the past year, following fellow retail giant Walmart, as well as Ford, Caterpillar, John Deere and Toyota. However, Amazon has been more subtle in its moves, unlike others like Meta, which announced sweeping changes to its DEI policy earlier Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.