Add another company to the growing list of those reducing or abandoning their diversity, equity and inclusion effort, and it’s a big effort: Meta.
Vice President of Personnel Janelle Gale sent a memo regarding the company’s activities. Workplace internal communications forum, as first reported by Axios.
According to Gale’s post, Meta will no longer have a dedicated DEI team or chief diversity officer. Maxine Williams will transition to a new role focused on accessibility and engagement.
Meta’s initiative to recruit suppliers from companies with diverse ownership will be discontinued in favor of a mandate to support small and medium-sized businesses, which Gale said “power a large part of our economy.”
The diverse approach to hiring, which was implemented to ensure the company considered a diverse set of candidates while filling open positions, is also being phased out, as are representation goals.
Finally, Gale wrote that Meta’s equity and inclusion programs will be replaced with programs “that focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for everyone, regardless of your background.” .
CNBC reported that this response from a Meta employee to Gale’s post sparked more than 600 reactions from his colleagues: “If you don’t stick to your principles when things get tough, they’re not values. These are hobbies.
And both inside and outside the Meta, the move will likely be seen as another concession to the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram revealed earlier this week that it eliminate its third-party fact-checking program in favor of a Community Notes initiative like the one used by X.
In November 2023, Meta overturned his ban on ads questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 US presidential election.
And in the weeks following Trump’s victory, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met Trump and potential Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida; donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund; promoted to ally of the Republican Party Joel Kaplan to the director of global affairs; and added a Trump ally Dana WhiteCEO of the UFC, on the company’s board of directors.
Fast food giant McDonald’s scaled back its DEI initiatives earlier this week, and major companies will do so in 2024, including Ford engine, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowes, Molson Coors, Target, Toyota, Supply of tractorsAnd Walmart.
