Athira Sethu
Kochi, 17 February 2025
A Meta internal chat revealed that one employee had criticized the company for reducing its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and reportedly stifling internal dissent. Most companies, however, do not share this opinion. Apple and Delta Airlines still stand behind their DEI initiatives, and Costco voted down a shareholder proposal to examine its DEI initiatives, with 98% of votes cast in favor of maintaining them. Meta’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Andrew Bosworth stated employees who were dissatisfied with the existing policies could “quit.
The report published quotes from the in-house chat in which an employee raised issues with Meta’s reduction of DEI initiatives and how it handles internal criticism. Bosworth reacted by instructing workers who leak company information to the press regarding policy differences to “consider working elsewhere.”
A worker responded that attention shouldn’t be given to leaks but to the reality that Meta staff felt disrespected. Meta also attracted criticism recently after cutting 3,600 employees. The company said it was part of a push to enhance performance by eliminating “low performers,” as stated by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Meta’s DEI shifts are not alone. Google also notified workers that it would abandon setting diversity hiring quotas, concentrating its shifts on the United States because of new legal and policy reforms under President Donald Trump. Amazon also eliminated the phrase “inclusion and diversity” from its yearly report, and McDonald’s ended its diversity goals and outside opinion surveys.
Even with these shifts, there are still some companies that continue to make DEI a priority. Apple encouraged its shareholders to vote against anti-DEI proposals, stating they would damage the company’s capacity to operate successfully. Cisco and Delta Airlines still stand behind their diversity initiatives, emphasizing their necessity for long-term success. Costco’s vote against the shareholder proposal further demonstrated strong support for DEI, with 98% of votes in favor of maintaining the programs.
Conversely, when Trump came back into office, he signed an executive order to terminate federal DEI programs. The order put DEI employees on leave and asked agencies to halt DEI training and delete DEI-related websites and social media pages.
