Costco’s CEO wants shareholders to support its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, asserting that its initiatives help boost profits.
According to The Wall Street Journal, earlier this month, the company’s CEO Ron Vachris reiterated his commitment to the initiatives when a customer sent him an email questioning whether the company was hiring based on “skin color” or “gender identification.”
Vachris said he is committed to giving all workers the same opportunities and high wages but said the company does not use hiring quotas. The company employs about 300,000 people. The median Costco worker earns $47,000, the outlet reported.
“If these are the policies you see as offensive, I must tell you I am not prepared to change,” he wrote back to the concerned customer.
Some conservative activists have encouraged their followers to boycott Costco after the remark, but it isn’t clear if those efforts will be successful. Costco customers pay an annual membership to shop at the store. Approximately 92 percent of those consumers continue to renew their memberships.
The company has maintained that its customers want to see diversity reflected in their workforce. Company data showed that 72 percent of Costco managers were men and 81 percent were white, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Independent emailed Costco for comment.
The company is holding an annual meeting next week and wants its shareholders to reject a proposal assessing the risks that diversity initiatives present, the newspaper reported. One example included potential discrimination complaints filed by white employees as risk factors.
“The proponent’s broader agenda is not reducing risk for the Company but abolition of diversity initiatives,” the company wrote in response to the conservative activists.
As President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch critic of DEI initiatives, returns to office, many companies are facing pressures to forego DEI initiatives, which typically foster a work environment where employees are respected despite their background, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability or other factors.
Costco is facing its own threat as some believe DEI initiatives present “litigation, reputational and financial risks to the company,” the outlet reported.
Still, its board wrote in a memo that workplace diversity helps attract talent and spur innovation across the company. “Our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary.”
Per the newspaper, Walmart, Tractor Supply, Ford Motor and Deere have stepped back from promoting DEI initiatives in recent months.
