Target becomes latest company to roll back DEI programs

Target said Friday that it plans to scale back many of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including efforts to hire from underrepresented groups, amid a tougher legal environment for those programs and new threats from the White House.

The retailer, one of the country’s largest, said it will end the DEI goals it sets in three-year cycles and curtail racial equity initiatives aimed at improving representation for Black businesses and suppliers, according to a memo shared with staff by Kiera Fernandez, Target’s chief community impact and equity officer.

The company also said it will stop conducting external diversity surveys and submitting information to the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates corporate policies on LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Years of “data, insights, listening and learning” drove Target’s decision, according to Fernandez’s memo. While the company will continue to “be strengthened by the power of belonging,” it also understands “the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future — all in service of driving Target’s growth and winning together,” she wrote.

The shift comes only days after President Donald Trump issued executive orders meant to quash DEI programs in the public and private sectors. He directed agency heads to draw up lists of publicly traded companies to investigate over their DEI programs, which legal experts said could send further chills through the corporate sector. Many large companies began reassessing the legality of their programs after the Supreme Court in 2023 overturned affirmative action in university admissions, which sparked dozens of lawsuits alleging that certain programs violated federal civil rights laws.

Target joins a growing list of companies — such as Meta, Walmart and McDonald’s — that have curtailed DEI programs in recent months. However, some companies, such as Costco and Microsoft, have publicly emphasized the programs’ importance. On Thursday, Costco shareholders voted overwhelmingly to defeat an anti-DEI proposal.

But the recent corporate trend of slashing DEI efforts marks a sharp reversal from the summer of 2020, when many corporations made investments in racial equity initiatives, including bolstering DEI programs, in response to calls for racial justice prompted by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis-based Target reiterated that its Racial Equity Action and Change initiative, launched in 2020, is slated to end this year. The program implemented anti-racism training for employees, prioritized hiring and promoting Black workers, and looked to grow the number of Black-owned businesses represented on Target shelves. In 2021, Target pledged to invest $2 billion in Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025 as part of the program.

Target executives have praised DEI programs in the past, with chief executive Brian Cornell telling Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast in 2023 that diversity-focused initiatives “fueled much of our growth over the last nine years.” The company faced a conservative outcry in response to its 2023 Pride Month collection, which led it to remove some LGBTQ+-related merchandise from shelves.