John Deere Removes DEI Initiatives After Social Media Criticism

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Agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere announced this week that it will scale back a series of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

in statement The company said in a statement Tuesday that it will eliminate or change several internal policies and initiatives, adding that “the trust and confidence of our customers is of the utmost importance to everyone at John Deere.”

“We will no longer participate in or support outdoor social or cultural awareness marches, festivals or events,” the statement read.

John Deere also announced that it will “review all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure there are no socially motivated messages,” and will “reaffirm within the company that diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and remain not company policy.”

DEI in the workplace: Efforts may come under attack, but many companies are not backing down from their commitments.

John Deere to Focus on Consumer ‘Trust and Confidence’

The company also announced that all employee resource groups will now focus “exclusively on professional development, networking, mentoring and supporting talent recruitment efforts.”

The announcement said the changes came as part of the company’s commitment to responding to customer feedback.

“In order to best serve our customers and employees, Deere is always listening to feedback and looking for opportunities to improve,” the statement said. “That’s why we continually prioritize internal policies that are more closely aligned with our business strategy to meet the needs of our customers.”

While John Deere did not address any specific customer comments, the company was targeted earlier this month on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by a conservative activist. Ruby Starbuck.

In a July 9 post, Starbucks accused John Deere of funding Pride events for children, encouraging employees to list their preferred gender pronouns in all company communications and creating employee resource groups focused on people of color and people from the LGBTQ community.

Social media campaigns targeting agribusinesses

John Deere is the second agricultural company to scale back or eliminate multiple DEI initiatives in recent months.

In June, Tractor Supply, a Tennessee-based retailer of agricultural goods and supplies, Advertise It has dramatically scaled back DEI programs and carbon emissions targets, including eliminating all DEI roles at the company.

Likewise, these changes came on the heels of a weeks-long social media campaign led by Starbucks.

Many companies are firmly in DEI programs: Survey

Despite recent moves from Tractor Supply and John Deere, 96% of corporate social impact professionals at 125 large companies say their DEI commitments have either increased (13%) or remained the same (83%), according to a new survey shared exclusively with USA TODAY by the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals and YourCause by Blackbaud.

But if you think you’ve heard less about DEI initiatives, you may be onto something. The survey found that 17% of respondents said they talk less about the work with people outside their organization, and nearly a third of executives said they describe the initiatives differently.

Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY

Max Hauptman is a frequent reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]