Ford joins list of companies walking back DEI policies (2024)

• Ford Motor told employees in an internal communication that it had taken "a fresh look" at its DEI policies and practices over the past year.
• Following that review, the automaker said it will not use quotas for minority dealerships or suppliers, adding that it does not have hiring quotas.
• The company also will stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, as well as various other "best places to work" lists.

Ford Motor is the latest company to walk back some of its commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The automaker has taken "a fresh look" at its DEI policies and practices over the past year to take in to account the evolving "external and legal environment related to political and social issues," according to an internal communication that was shared with global Ford employees and posted Wednesday on X by an anti-DEI activist. Ford confirmed the letter was authentic and said it had no additional comment on the matter.

Ford's move follows retailer Tractor Supply, which one of the first major companies to stop its DEI efforts, as it severed ties earlier this summer with the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and retired DEI targets like boosting the number of employees of color at the manager level. Harley-Davidson, whose board of directors includes Ford CEO Jim Farley, also decided last week to stop consulting the HRC's metric for treatment of LGBTQ+ employees and affirmed that it does not have a DEI function.

Home improvement retailer Lowe's joined the efforts earlier this week, and noted that it might also make additional changes to the policies over time.

The companies have cited conservative backlash or changing social and political environments in their announcements. Tractor Supply and Harley-Davidson also noted a desire to appeal to their more rural or conservative-leaning customers.

"I think you will start to see this move towards more politically neutral companies, which is to say that most of these companies didn't really want to be doing this stuff in the first place," Liz Hoffman, Semafor's business and finance editor, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" earlier Wednesday, before the Ford memo was posted.

In the memo Wednesday, Farley said the company will not use quotas for minority dealerships or suppliers, adding that it does not have hiring quotas.

The automaker will also stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, as well as various other "best places to work" lists.

The Human Rights Campaign scores over 1,300 companies annually based on their corporate equality measures for LGBTQ+ individuals, including practices like offering spousal medical benefits regardless of sex and having distinct LGBTQ+ community outreach efforts. Ford, in previous years, had received a perfect score on the index.

"Ford Motor Company's shortsighted decisions will have long-term consequences," Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. "Hastily abandoning efforts that ensure fair, safe, and inclusive work environments is bad for business and leaves Ford's employees and millions of LGBTQ+-allied consumers behind."

The organization also added that it evaluates every Fortune 500 company on its equality index, regardless of whether or not the company submits additional information about its priorities, which means Ford will continue to be scored on the list.

"As a global company, we will continue to put our effort and resources into taking care of our customers, our team, and our communities versus publicly commenting on the many polarizing issues of the day," Ford said in the statement sent to employees. "There will of course be times when we will speak out on core issues if we believe our voice can make a positive difference."

Many companies, including automakers such as Ford, amped up their DEI commitments in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests of the summer of 2020 — and Ford spoke up about that at the time.

"We are not interested in superficial actions. This is our moment to lead from the front and fully commit to creating the fair, just and inclusive culture that our employees deserve,"the company said in 2020 in a letter reaffirming its DEI commitment. "We cannot turn a blind eye to it or accept some sense of 'order' that's based on oppression."

But, in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn affirmative action in colleges, a growing number of conservative activists on social media have called on companies to stop investing in DEI.

"There is an old saying: If you give an inch, people take a mile, and that is essentially what we have seen when the Supreme Court made a ruling that was very specific to institutions of higher education," industrial and organizational psychologist Derek Avery told CNBC.

"Conservative state attorney generals sent letters to corporations warning them that they could expect to be sued if they continue to advocate and promote DEI practices within their organizations that could be construed as counter to the Supreme Court ruling, even though the Supreme Court ruling had no bearing on those corporate initiatives."