Coors beer is displayed on a store shelf in San Rafael, California on February 13, 2024.
Justin Sullivan |
Molson-Coors is the latest addition to a growing list of companies rolling back their diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
In an internal memo sent Wednesday and obtained by CNBC, Molson Coors executives said the company would eliminate supplier diversity quotas, adding that they “can be complicated and influenced by factors outside the supply chain.” [the company’s] Control.”
However, the brewery has stated that it will continue to ensure that its suppliers represent the company's diverse customer base.
“We are ensuring that our executive incentives are linked to company performance and will no longer include ambitious representation targets starting next year,” company executives wrote in the memo.
Molson Coors also said it is working on the “next evolution” of its corporate training, which will focus on key business objectives rather than the previous DEI-based training programs that the company said all current U.S. employees already participated in.
Molson Coors will rename its Employee Resource Groups to Business Resource Groups, but will apparently retain the groups' existing function. The company will also stop participating in voluntary third-party “best of” company rankings in the U.S., including the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which rates companies based on LGBTQ+ equality measures. The brewery had previously achieved a full score of 100 points.
“This will not impact the benefits we offer our employees, nor will it change or diminish our commitment to fostering a strong company culture where each of our employees knows they are welcome in our bar,” the company said.
Molson Coors will also ensure that all of the company's charitable programs are aligned to support “core business objectives,” such as responsible drinking, disaster relief and promoting access to higher education. The company has raised more than $700,000 for LGBTQ+ organizations and sponsored Pride festivals nationwide since 2011 through its Tap Into Change program.
Although conservative activist Robby Starbuck called the measures a preemptive response to his investigation into the company's DEI practices a week ago, Molson Coors' memo says the decision has been “in the works since March.”
Molson Coors' decision comes after a wave of retailers took a step back in their DEI efforts over the summer.
Rural retailer Tractor accessories started the trend when it severed its ties with LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and abandoned previous DEI goals such as increasing the number of employees of color at the executive level. Companies like Harley Davidson And Lowe's followed this example. Most recently ford Executives highlighted plans to drastically cut supplier diversity quotas and end the company's relationship with HRC metrics.
Corporate DEI practices saw renewed interest following the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, but they have struggled following the Supreme Court's decision to repeal affirmative action on college campuses. Although the repeal of affirmative action affects academic institutions and has no legal impact on corporate initiatives, companies are concerned that growing anti-DEI sentiment could spill over into the U.S. corporate world.
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