As corporate diversity and inclusion programs come under attack, not all companies are downsized.
At Costco’s annual meeting Thursday, shareholders will vote on a proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, that would require the company to report on any potential risks its diversity programs may pose to earnings.
Before the vote, Costco’s board issued a full defense of DEI, arguing that such initiatives reward shareholders and “increase our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed.”
Unlike Costco, some of the nation’s largest companies have given up on efforts to increase racial and gender equality in the workplace — or at least have been quieter about them. They have backed away from those initiatives under pressure from discrimination lawsuits, campaigns by social media influencers like Robby Starbuck and efforts by President Trump, who on Tuesday signed an executive order directing government agencies to investigate DEI programs at publicly traded corporations. .
But Costco is one of several large public companies that is publicly supporting DEI’s efforts despite mounting pressure. At many of these companies, commitments to diversity have been in place for more than a decade.
This month, Apple rejected a similar proposal from the think tank. “We strive to create a culture of belonging where everyone can do their best work,” the board wrote to shareholders.
In October, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, wrote in the company’s annual diversity and inclusion report that these values ”ensure that our workforce represents the planet we serve and that the products we build always meet the needs of our customers.” .
This week, Pinterest’s chief legal officer, Wanji Walcott, wrote on LinkedIn that the company’s “investments in a diverse and inclusive workforce with equal opportunity” create “tremendous value for users and advertisers.”
And on Wednesday, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said the company would not back down from its DEI efforts in response to activists. “Bring them on,” he said in an interview with CNBC.
Costco, Microsoft, Apple, Pinterest and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of Mr. Trump’s executive order on Tuesday, which calls on agencies to identify “the most egregious and discriminatory DEI practitioners” and propose potential legal or regulatory actions. On Wednesday, Mr. Starbuck said on social media that DEI was “cornered and in a position to die, but we must be punitive and ruthless in ending this ideology.”
Shareholder proposals have become a popular way for corporate activists to oppose and support diversity efforts, climate commitments and other social issues. But compared to social media attacks, they have so far yielded few results. Companies including Lowe’s, Molson Coors and Toyota announced changes to their policies after Mr. Starbuck took aim at them on social media (“We’re finally getting to Costco,” Mr. Starbuck wrote on X, but they “were not a company we were down to work for in early 2025.”). But most companies routinely reject shareholder proposals, preferring to retain control over their policies — even if they are already considering similar changes domestically.
In 2024, the National Center for Public Policy Research presented proposals to challenge the environmental, social and governance policies of 61 companies. None of the proposals passed, and they averaged just 2 percent support, according to the Proxymonitor.org database. John Deere and Boeing were among the companies that opposed the think tank’s anti-DEI proposals, though they later walked back their diversity programs.
Costco’s opposition to the think tank’s proposal drew attention because it was particularly forceful.
Beth Young, a corporate governance attorney who advises institutional investors on shareholder proposals, said Costco may be more resistant to cultural headwinds than most companies because it started its diversity and inclusion initiatives so long ago. . It hired its first chief diversity officer back in 2004. “They’ve had these commitments for a long time, and they’ve attracted an investor base that’s at least somewhat aligned with their approach,” she said.
Apple created its first employee groups in 1986 and its supplier diversity program in 1993. Pinterest publicly announced its first diversity goals in 2015. And Microsoft’s chief diversity officer, Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, wrote in a post on LinkedIn that “Microsoft’s original mission required a commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
Companies with historic commitments to diversity may see maintaining these benefits as something employees expect, said Vicky Slade, an attorney at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. “Employers understand that if they’ve communicated their values and commitment to their employees, that’s something that matters in retaining talent,” she said.
Costco’s relationship with its workers reached a critical tipping point after a union representing about 18,000 of its workers voted to authorize a strike if an agreement was not reached in contract negotiations by January 31.
Some companies have directed their messages of continued support for diversity and inclusion directly to employees. Etsy Chief Executive Josh Silverman wrote in an internal memo reviewed by The New York Times that “Etsy remains steadfast in our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workplace” despite “a broad trend of companies that change their attitudes on diversity, equality and inclusion.
This trend is evident in employment patterns. In the first two weeks of the year, 561 posts on ZipRecruiter for jobs in DEI programs were active—a 93 percent drop from the same period in 2024.
“This sharp decline suggests that the backlash, which in 2024 was mostly focused on high-profile companies, may now spread to smaller firms and less visible sectors of the economy,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. in an email.
Others see current trends as a reflection of whether a business is truly committed to diversity.
“Companies that never really engaged can use this moment as an opportunity to pull back and go back to the status quo,” said John Rice, founder and chief executive of Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization that works to advance economic mobility for the underrepresented. communities. “Others who have been doing this work for a long time will continue to do it.”
Jordyn Holman contributed to the reporting.