As corporate diversity and inclusion programs come under attack, not all companies have scaled back.
At Costco’s annual meeting on 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 diversity programs could pose to profits.
Ahead of the vote, Costco’s board delivered a full-throated defense of D.E.I., arguing that such initiatives reward shareholders and “enhance our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed.”
Unlike Costco, some of the biggest companies in the country have rolled back efforts to increase workplace racial and gender equity — or at least been quieter about them. They’ve pulled back from these 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 D.E.I. programs at publicly traded corporations.
But Costco is one of several large public companies that are publicly maintaining D.E.I. efforts despite the mounting pressure. At many of those companies, commitments to diversity have been in place for more than a decade.
This month, Apple opposed a similar proposal from the think tank. “We strive to create a culture of belonging where everyone can do their best work,” its board wrote to shareholders.
In October, Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, wrote in the company’s annual report on diversity and inclusion that these values “ensure our work force represents the planet we serve, and that the products we build always meet our customers’ needs.”
And on Monday, Pinterest’s chief legal officer, Wanji Walcott, wrote on LinkedIn that the company’s “investments in a diverse and inclusive work force with equitable opportunities” create “immense value for users and advertisers alike.”
Costco, Microsoft, Apple and Pinterest did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of Mr. Trump’s executive order on Tuesday, which calls for agencies to identify “the most egregious and discriminatory D.E.I. practitioners” to face potential legal action or regulatory penalties. On Wednesday, Mr. Starbuck said on social media that D.E.I. was “cornered and in a position to die but we must be punishing and relentless in finishing this ideology off.”
Shareholder proposals have become a popular way for corporate activists to contest and support diversity efforts, climate commitments and other social issues. But compared with 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 targeted them on social media (“We’ll eventually get to Costco,” Mr. Starbuck wrote on X, but they “were not a company we had down to work on in early 2025.”). But most companies routinely reject shareholder proposals, preferring to maintain control over their policies — even if they are already considering similar changes internally.
In 2024, the National Center for Public Policy Research filed proposals to contest environmental, social and governance policies at 61 companies. None of the proposals passed, and they averaged just 2 percent support, according to the database Proxymonitor.org. John Deere and Boeing were among the companies to oppose the think tank’s anti-D.E.I. proposals, though they later rolled 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 lawyer who advises institutional investors on shareholder proposals, said Costco may be more resistant to cultural headwinds than most companies because it began its diversity and inclusion initiatives long ago. It hired its first chief diversity officer as early as 2004. “They’ve had these commitments for a long time and have attracted an investor base that is at least somewhat aligned with their approach,” she said.
Apple established 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 LinkedIn post that “Microsoft’s original mission required a commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
Companies with historical commitments to diversity may view maintaining those benefits as something employees expect, said Vicky Slade, a lawyer at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. “Employers understand that if they’ve expressed their values and their commitment to their employees, that is something that matters to retain talent,” she said.
Costco’s relationship with its employees reached a delicate inflection point after a union that represents around 18,000 of its workers voted to authorize a strike if an agreement was not reached in contract negotiations by Jan. 31.
Some companies have aimed their messages of continued support for diversity and inclusion directly at employees. Etsy’s 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 shifting their stances on diversity, equity and inclusion.”
That trend is evident in hiring patterns. In the first two weeks of the year, 561 postings on ZipRecruiter for jobs in D.E.I. programs were active — a 93 percent decline from the same period in 2024.
“This sharp drop suggests that the backlash, which in 2024 largely centered on high-profile companies, could now be spreading to smaller firms and less visible sectors of the economy,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said in an email.
Others see the current trends as a reflection of whether a business is truly dedicated to diversity.
“The companies that were never really committed may use this moment as an opportunity to step back and revert to the status quo,” said John Rice, founder and chief executive of Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a nonprofit that works to advance economic mobility for underrepresented communities. “Others who’ve been doing this work for a long time are going to keep doing it.”
Jordyn Holman contributed reporting.
