McDonald’s is the latest US corporation — and among the largest — to back off some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, as a Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and conservative backlash to those programs continues to lead businesses to reevaluate their diversity pledges.
The company in a statement Monday said it is sunsetting its specific diversity goals, including requiring its suppliers to commit to certain DEI targets. And it will stop participating in external surveys that measure corporate diversity.
McDonald’s is also changing the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team — a common practice for many other companies that have rolled back diversity pledges.
“This name change is more fitting for McDonald’s in light of our inclusion value and better aligns with this team’s work,” McDonald’s said in the statement.
But the company said it has not abandoned its mission to maintain a diverse workforce. Instead, McDonald said that it will continue to support practices that foster inclusion in the workplace and across its operations, and it will work with its suppliers and vendors to discuss diversity and inclusion practices.
“McDonald’s position and our commitment to inclusion is steadfast,” the company said in its statement. “Since our founding, we’ve prided ourselves on understanding that the foundation of our business is people. As Fred Turner said, ‘We’re a people business, and never forget it.’”
The company said its new position was driven by a recent Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and other corporations reevaluating their diversity initiatives. Online pressure, legal threats and customer opposition have led many companies, including Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere and others to make changes to their DEI initiatives.
A new era of DEI practices
But some observers say that many high-profile corporate moves on DEI aren’t as large a change as they might seem.
“DEI isn’t going away. It’s just changing,” J. Danielle Carr, chief officer of inclusion at Lowenstein Sandler and president of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals, told CNN in December. The organization found that just 14 of the Fortune 500 companies made any public changes to their DEI teams or programs in 2024.
DEI commitments can include anything from employee training, resource networks and recruiting practices to advance representation of people with various identities and backgrounds.
The fast food chain said it saw growth in leadership, supplier and franchisee diversity in 2024 due to its previous commitments. McDonald’s said 30% of its leaders in the United States were from underrepresented groups and 78% of employees “scored McDonald’s positively” in the company’s employee pulse survey. The company also said it met its goal to allocate 25% of supply-chain spending to diverse-owned suppliers by the end of 2025.
“We are immensely proud of these accomplishments, but we are not satisfied,” McDonald’s said in its statement.
Meanwhile, Costco recently acknowledged that the benefits of its DEI policies proved too rewarding to back down, despite backlash from activist shareholders aiming to end the company’s ambitions.
The warehouse club retailer said its supplier program has focused on expanding with small and diverse businesses and the efforts have helped attract and retain diverse employees.
“Among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings, promoting the ‘treasure hunt’ that our customers value,” Costco said in its proxy statement to investors.
McDonald’s said it will not cut franchisee affinity groups and business networks, which “promote entrepreneurship and foster supportive connections.” It will continue reporting company demographics each year, McDonald’s said in the statement, and remain committed to pay equity.
McDonald’s also said it would evaluate its work based on four beliefs: that it “thrives” when “shaped by the communities in which we operate;” that inclusivity gives it an advantage; that its priority is acting responsibly; and that individuals “perform their best when they belong.”
