Beer giant Molson Coors is rolling back some of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, joining other corporations that have similarly dialed down their DEI engagement.
Gavin Hattersley, CEO of Molson Coors, made the announcement in a Sept. 3 memo to employees obtained by The Epoch Times.
The company will discontinue its practice of linking executive compensation to employee diversity representation, cease participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index, and eliminate its supplier diversity goals, Hattersley wrote.
The beer company is also ending its DEI training for employees and carrying out an audit to ensure that all its training programs are focused on key business objectives of growth and a “strong workplace where everyone can thrive.”
“With all U.S. employees having participated in our previous DEI-based training programs, these programs have been completed,” Hattersley wrote.
Molson Coors is also shifting its approach to Employee Resource Groups, renaming them Business Resource Groups, and ensuring their focus is on professional development, business objectives, and consumer dynamics.
“As a reminder, all resource groups have been and will continue to be open to any employee who wishes to join,” Hattersley wrote.
A request for comment sent to Molson Coors on the DEI rollback, including on the rationale behind it, was not immediately returned.
Around 60 percent of U.S. companies have a race- or gender-based DEI program, according to a Harvard Business Review 2022 survey.
The Moline, Illinois-based company said on July 16 that it will stop supporting social awareness events, review training materials to remove socially motivated messaging, and confirmed it doesn’t have any diversity hiring quotas.
At the same time, the company said it stands by its belief that a diverse workforce is beneficial for customers.
“We fundamentally believe that a diverse workforce enables us to best meet our customers’ needs and because of that we will continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization,” the company said.
“We will continue to build a high-performance culture focused on ‘what’ we deliver with aligned objectives, high standards, and accountability and, as importantly, ‘how’ we deliver through excellence, focus, and collaboration,” Farley said. “This creates an environment where all of us can do our best work anchored in respect and inclusion.”
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in an Aug. 28 statement that the group could “not be more disappointed” in Ford’s decision, calling it “shortsighted.”
Robinson said Ford’s withdrawal from participation in the annual survey and the foundation’s corporate equality index would “have long-term consequences” for the company and called for a boycott of the carmaker.
