Deere’s changes reflect the growing pressure companies are facing to scale back or eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from external critics and U.S. courts as a wave of legal actions challenges policies at companies including giants like Starbucks, Meta and Pfizer.
It’s also another high-profile example of a company’s stance on a social issue that has created tension with customers. Deere and Tractor Supply’s changes come just a year after a boycott of Bud Light over its partnership with transgender influencer and actress Dylan Mulvaney. Target also faced boycotts and in-store confrontations over Pride Month merchandise last year, prompting the company to pull its collection from its storefronts and remove some merchandise altogether.
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Deere & Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company isn’t completely rejecting DEI: In its statement Tuesday, Deere said that will “continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization” as it helps meet customer needs. Its website still touts “our inclusive culture.”
Deere’s changes come after public pressure from Robby Starbuck, the conservative podcast host who organized a boycott of Tractor Supply over its diversity policies late last month.
Tractor Supply responded by cutting its diversity roles and promising to stop sending data to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and to stop sponsoring Pride festivals and voting initiatives. Its moves were met with celebration from conservative activists and concern from another, including a New York animal shelter, an LGBTQ+ organization, and an association aimed at supporting black farmers.
John Boyd Jr., founder of the National Black Farmers Association, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that his group would call for a boycott of Deere and the resignation of its CEO, John C. May. The group did the same in response to Tractor Supply’s retraction.
“We will continue to see more companies abandoning diversity goals and scaling back DEI programs designed to advance marginalized groups,” Boyd said in an emailed statement.
Earlier in July, Starbucks posted a video criticizing a series of DEI initiatives at Deere, including the creation of “LGBTQ and race-based” employee resource groups and employee training that featured anti-racist teachings from authors like Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi. After Deere’s announcement, he posted on X that the changes didn’t go far enough, said he wants the company to end DEI “entirely” and stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index. Starbucks added that it will continue to oppose corporate DEI efforts.
“DEI is poison and we will not stop until the public knows how the company has strayed from American values,” Starbucks wrote.
Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
Eric Bloem, vice president of corporate programs and advocacy for the Human Rights Campaign, called Deere’s move on DEI “disappointing” in a statement emailed to The Post. But he attributed the company’s changes to “a coordinated attack by right-wing extremists on American businesses.”
“The decision to cut DEI initiatives risks alienating customers and employees in order to appease extremists who care about neither,” Bloem said, adding that “the decision to abandon the values of diversity and inclusion hurts any company’s bottom line and the American economy as a whole.”
The decision comes a month after Deere signed a settlement with the Labor Department to resolve allegations of “systemic hiring discrimination against Black and Hispanic applicants” at production facilities in Iowa and Illinois. The company, which works as a contractor with the federal agency, agreed to pay more than $1 million in back wages and interest to affected job applicants and offer dozens of jobs to qualified candidates.
As part of the agreement, the Moline, Ill.-based company must also “evaluate its personnel practices, including its record-keeping and internal audit procedures,” the DOL said in a press release.
DEI encompasses a range of practices that proponents describe as ways to diversify companies, schools, and organizations and ensure equal access to opportunity. DEI includes efforts such as recruiting and mentoring programs aimed at underrepresented groups, anti-bias training, and employee resource groups.
According to Cristina Jimenez, global head of diversity, inclusion and belonging at RHR International, most organizations consider addressing diversity and equity issues within their ranks “critical to their long-term success.” But they also face “external pressures to conform to what might be perceived as neutrality or just plain avoidance” when it comes to DEI, she said.
The growing threat of customer rejection, along with broader tensions around DEI, “can prompt organizations to think about their approach, change their strategy, or simply take the time to ask themselves if they’re focusing on the right things,” Jimenez added.
Critics of DEI programs say preferences based on race and gender are themselves discriminatory. Dozens of lawsuits challenging DEI policies in schools, governments, and companies are pending in courts across the country, and Republican-led state legislatures are considering a number of anti-DEI bills.
As the cloud over DEI rises, some leading companies are making changes. In recent weeks, Microsoft eliminated its DEI team due to “changing business needs,” according to a report from Business Insider. Other giants like Tesla, X, Meta, and Zoom have all gotten rid of DEI roles as the climate around the job changes.
“The real systems change work associated with DEI programs everywhere is no longer as business-critical or intelligent as it was in 2020,” said a Microsoft leader. the team wrote in an email sent to thousands of employees, Business Insider reported.
