Amazon will suspend some of its DEI programs: internal note

Amazon is pausing some of its diversity and inclusion initiatives, joining a growing list of large corporations that have announced similar measures in the face of growing public and legal scrutiny.

In an internal memo sent last month to employees obtained by CNBC, Candi Castleberry, Amazon’s vice president of inclusive experiences and technology, said the company was in the process of “removing outdated programs and materials” as part of a broader review. of hundreds of initiatives.

“Rather than individual groups creating programs, we are focusing on programs with proven results, and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture,” Castleberry wrote in the Dec. 16 memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg.

Meta on Friday made a similar retreat from its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The social media company said it is ending its focus on considering qualified candidates from underrepresented groups for open positions and its equity and inclusion training programs. The decision sparked negative reactions from Meta employees, including one staff member who wrote, “If you don’t respect your principles when the going gets tough, they’re not values. They’re hobbies.”

Other companies included McDonald’s, Walmart and Ford They have also made changes to their DEI initiatives in recent months. The growing conservative backlash and the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in 2023 prompted many corporations to modify or suspend their DEI programs.

Read Amazon’s full Castleberry memo:

Equipment,

As we approach the end of the year, I want to provide another update on the work we’ve been doing around representation and inclusion.

As a large global company operating across countries and industries, we serve hundreds of millions of customers from diverse backgrounds and globally diverse communities. To serve you effectively, we need millions of employees and partners who reflect our customers and communities. We strive to be representative of those customers and build a culture that is inclusive for all.

In recent years we took a new approach: we reviewed hundreds of programs across the company and used science to evaluate their effectiveness, impact, and return on investment (ROI), identifying those we believed should continue. Each of them addresses a specific disparity and is designed to end when that disparity is eliminated. In parallel, we work to unify groups of employees under the same umbrella and create programs open to all. Rather than individual groups creating programs, we are focusing on programs with proven results, and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture. You can read more about this in our 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 so that they are durable – is the evolution towards “integrated” and “born inclusive”, rather than “bolted “. “As part of this evolution, we have been eliminating outdated programs and materials and aim to complete this by the end of 2024. We also know that there will always be individuals or teams that will continue to do well-intentioned things that do not align with our company-wide approach and We may not always see them right away. But we’ll keep it up.

We will continue to share ongoing updates and appreciate 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 those audiences, help employees grow, thrive and connect, and remain dedicated to providing inclusive experiences for customers, employees and communities around the world. world.

#InThisTogether,

candy