McDonald's becomes latest company to scale back some DEI policies
McDonald’s has become the latest major corporation in the United States to announce its intention to scale back diversity, equity and inclusion policies as pushback to businesses’ embrace of progressive ideology continues.
Robby Starbuck, an activisit who has made combatting DEI at major corporations his top priority, announced the new development in a post on X Monday. Starbuck explained that the changes came about because “3 days ago I told McDonald’s that I’d be doing a story on woke policies there.”
According to Starbuck, McDonald’s has committed to “END their diversity ‘goals’ for how many of each race they hire.” He characterized said “goals” as “quotas,” noting how they “discriminate against white job applicants.”
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Starbuck also insisted that McDonald’s will “no longer participate in the [Human Rights Campaign’s] woke Corporate Equality Index scoring system that forces the trans agenda into the workplace in exchange for a perfect score.” He indicated that they also vowed not to participate in “other 3rd party surveys” that evaluate the company based on its adherence to tenets of LGBT or other progressive ideology.
“They’re ENDING the DEI pledge for their supply chain,” he added, meaning that “no diversity quotas or ‘goals’ will exist for how they choose or prioritize suppliers.” He maintained that this means that “merit” will be the determining factor for choosing suppliers.
Starbuck’s post on X was published on the same day that McDonald’s released a statement originally sent as an email to McDonald’s owners and operators as well as company employers and suppliers worldwide. The company identified “inclusion” as one of its “core values,” stressing that “Everyone is welcome under our Golden Arches, and this broad-based appeal is why McDonald’s is one of the world’s most beloved brands.”
After outlining statistics about the company’s adherence to “gender pay equity” and the representation of “underrepresented groups” in leadership roles as well as the suppliers they do business with, McDonald’s highlighted its completion of a comprehensive Civil Rights Audit that “looked at all aspects of inclusion across our system” and “engaged with shareholders to understand their expectations and assessed the overall landscape of shareholder proposals.”
The restaurant chain also brought up the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decisionStudents for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which found race-based admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina unconstitutional. It explained how it was re-evaluating its policies related to diversity and inclusion in light of the ruling as well as moves made by other companies.
“We are retiring setting aspirational representation goals and instead keeping our focus on continuing to embed inclusion practices that grow our business into our everyday process and operations,” the letter stated. “We are pausing external surveys to focus on the work we are doing internally to grow the business. We are retiring Supply Chain’s Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge in favor of a more integrated discussion with suppliers about inclusion as it relates to business performance.”
McDonald’s also mentioned how it would now refer to its diversity team as the “Global Inclusion Team,” a move it considered “more fitting for McDonald’s in light of our inclusion value” that “better aligns with this team’s work.”
Starbuck expressed disappointment about this development in a video accompanying the X post, calling it “ridiculous.”
“We don’t need these teams,” he said. “It is a job. It is a workplace. You go there to work. People don’t need a team assigned at corporate to making sure everybody feels included, OK? We’re not kindergarteners. We’re adults. It’s a workplace. It’s a place people go to shop. Just provide great service, be kind, do the right thing, be fair and if you’re a company executive … lay down the hammer when somebody breaks the law. Everybody’s all for that. But there’s no need for DEI teams at all, no need for a diversity team.”
In spite of his disappointment with the McDonald’s decision to maintain a “Global Inclusion Team,” Starbuck characterized the company as his “first corporate flip of 2025.”
Other companies that have scaled back support for progressive ideology, including DEI and LGBT advocacy, are: Tractor Supply Co, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s, Lowe’s and Ford Motor Company.
Pushback to the embrace of progressive ideology, including DEI, LGBT advocacy and “wokeness” has materialized in the form of falling profits for companies such as Bud Light, which partnered with trans-identified influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target, which championed LGBT-related merchandise for children and sold “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for boys and men who wanted to wear girls' swimwear.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
