Walmart Inc. stunned civil-rights activists in November by saying it was pulling back on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The world’s largest retailer said it would stop using the term “DEI” in official communications, remove some LGBTQ products from its website and no longer consider race and gender to boost diversity when granting supplier contracts, among other changes.
Six months later, the company’s moves seem less like a reversal and more like modest changes. “Belonging” has replaced most mentions of DEI— a semantic transition that began two years ago— but jobs posted on the company website still call for applicants who will support its policy of “diversity, equity & inclusion.” A landing page boasts about goods from “LGBTQIA+ founded brands,” accompanied by the tagline “Pride always.” And Walmart offers similar pages for Hispanic-, Black- and women-owned brands, noting that some have been categorized in collaboration with external groups that offer diversity certifications.
Walmart is hardly alone. Many programs at large US companies that have fallen under the diversity, equity and inclusion banner haven’t disappeared, according to interviews with more than two dozen senior staffers from large US companies and corporate advisors. Even businesses that have made announcements purporting to curtail their DEI initiatives have, in most cases, made mostly minor adjustments, while promising investors and employees that nothing meaningful has changed.
A Walmart spokesman said the company is addressing outdated references in job postings. “Our goal is to foster a sense of belonging, create opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers, and be a Walmart for everyone. We want to make Walmart the best place to work and shop,” a Walmart spokesperson said.
Executive orders targeting what President Donald Trump has termed “illegal DEI” have rattled general counsels across the country’s largest companies— especially a directive that federal agencies compile lists of organizations to target for investigation by May 21. The administration argues that rather than reducing bias and encouraging managers to hire and promote based on merit, DEI policies have been “deeply demeaning,” and have increased hostility between different groups.
But the orders haven’t fundamentally changed employment law, no matter how sweeping they may sound, said Jonathan Segal, a partner at law firm Duane Morris. And in many cases, familiar DEI efforts remainbecause those programs weren’t discriminating against employees. “You can do almost everything you were doing before with modest changes,” Segal said.
