Nearly all Fortune 500 companies still maintain corporate DEI commitments: report
Almost every single Fortune 500 company continues to maintain some form of DEI commitment, a new report shows, even though many companies have opted to drop them amid public pressure.
FIRST ON FOX: A new report looked at company statements, annual reports and other publicly available documents from every Fortune 500 company and found that virtually all of them have maintained their commitments to "diversity, equity and inclusion" (DEI) despite a trend of private companies relinquishing these commitments amid growing criticism.
Walmart, last week, became the latest major company to roll back its DEI commitments. The private sector's move away from such commitments, which include race-based hiring practices or other preferential treatment provided based on someone's immutable characteristics, has been strong enough that it spurred a cohort of 49 Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives to pen a letter several weeks ago to the country's Fortune 1000 companies, urging them not to give in to pressure to dismantle their DEI commitments. The lawmakers argued that such commitments help provide for a fairer shot at the American Dream for "everyone."
The effort to ensure that "everyone" is given a fair shot is a main reason why Walmart decided to begin rolling back some of its commitments.
"Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today," Joe Pennington, the director of Walmart's global press office, told Fox News Digital. "We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone."
While pressure on private companies to relinquish their DEI commitments has yielded some change, 485 of the country's 500 largest companies continue to maintain some form of DEI commitment, according to a new report from the right-leaning Heritage Foundation.
Researchers spent weeks combing through various documents and communications belonging to all of these companies, and developed a user-friendly database so that readers can see the commitments for themselves.
Jonthan Butcher, the report's lead author, told Fox News Digital that he thinks public pressure is very influential when it comes to getting private companies to relinquish what he described as discriminatory DEI commitments. Sources familiar with Walmart's decision to roll back their DEI policies indicated that public pressure, in addition to feedback from customers and associates, was an aspect that spurred some of the company's changes.
"I think that when the pressure has been applied one by one … businesses recognize that when they're called out, they don't have any way to defend themselves and say, 'Well, what we're really doing is wholesome.' No one has tried to say that," Butcher said. "Instead, they've simply backed away. And appropriately so."
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Some of the major companies highlighted in Butcher's report include Nike and UnitedHealth Group.
Nike, for example, was found to have a page on its website about "representation and pay" that asserts, "NIKE is focused on its workforce representation, starting with women globally and racial and ethnic minorities in the United States." Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group states on its "People & Culture" webpage that the company strives to provide patients with "culturally relevant care" and seeks to "advance a diverse health care workforce."
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Fox News Digital reached out to both Nike and UnithedHealth Group for comment but did not receive a response.
Butcher ultimately said he believes Americans are waking up to the racially discriminatory elements of DEI practices, noting that the point of his research is to continue leveraging that momentum.
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