Apple shareholders on Tuesday rejected a proposal to end the iPhone maker’s diversity, equity and comprehensive program.
The National Center for Public Policy Studies, a conservative think tank, has been calling on Apple to follow other major companies as they retreat from DEIs that fired from Republicans. From President Donald Trump.
“DEI poses litigation, reputation, financial risks to the company and therefore financial risks for shareholders, and therefore further risks to the company against failing to comply with the fiduciary obligations,” according to the proposal provided by the group. and. Shareholders also offered similar proposals at Costco’s annual general meeting in January It was rejected.
“The risks of apples stemming from continuing to drive these divisive and value-destructive agendas are only increasing in light of President Trump’s recent executive order. The National Center for Public Policy Studies Free Enterprise Project The executive director of the company said in a pre-recorded statement made to Apple shareholders on Tuesday.
“The atmosphere shift is clear, Dei is out and there are annual benefits,” Padfield said.
When responding to anti-DEI proposals, Apple defends its diversity program as an integral part of its corporate culture and honors its policies to make the tech giant the most valuable company in the world.
“We’ve never had Apple’s quotas or targets. Our strengths come from always hiring the best people and providing a culture of collaboration,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a meeting. As I said during the period, recognizing the company may need to amend aspects of its diversity policy “as a legal environment” around DEI.
“But the North Star of our dignity and respect for everyone, and our work for that purpose will never waver,” he said.
In 2022, Apple revealed that almost three-quarters of the global workforce consists of white and Asian employees. Two-thirds of the employees were male in the beginning.
Trump has denounced Apple shareholders’ decision to reject proposals to end the company’s DEI initiative.
“Apple should not only adjust to them, but remove the Dei rules. Dei was a very bad hoax for our country. Dei is gone!!!” he posted on social media on Wednesday. I wrote it in.
Dei, which aims to promote workplace equity and open career paths for people of color, women and other protected classes; I gained momentum After the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
However, that trend has recently reversed alongside Ford. Google, McDonald’s, Meta, targetWalmart and other large corporations are expanding their diversity initiatives under court rulings and pressure from conservative activists encouraged by President Trump, who banned the DEI program across the federal government.
Change Dei’s landscape
According to David Glasgow, an auxiliary professor at the New York University School of Law, certain forms of DEI are legally more risky than they were a few years ago, but they have asked standardized questions to recruit to alleviate implicit bias. Practices such as raising are legally sound. Executive Director of Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Nolning.
“Day is a very broad umbrella term covering disability, parental leave, flexible work, etc. Anti-DEI people do a good job driving the story that it’s all about racial allocation and preferences. “Slices of such an initiative, Glasgow told CBS MoneyWatch.
The response by some companies to the current legal and political situation is a matter of rebranding, Glasgow said. Companies can abandon the terms diversity, equity and inclusion, replacing references to “welcome” and “attribution.”
“(i) Details about getting anti-DEI activists out of their backs,” Glasgow said.
Dei’s critics say employers’ employment and promotion decisions should be based solely on merit, regardless of race, color, gender or other categories. In contrast, supporters of these policies do not hinder businesses from rewarding top-performing employees, while not helping organizations create a respectful workplace culture He says that.
Despite the pushback to diversity, about half of the corporate leaders surveyed after Trump’s January 20 inauguration ceremony have cited the DEI program, according to a new survey of 350 C-Sweet executives at Litler. He said he was not considering rewinding. A company focused on labor and employment issues. Approximately 22% of executives are considering cutting or phased out jobs focused on DEI, the survey found.
I contributed to this report.
