Target pulls back diversity programs as Trump takes aim at DEI

By Jaewon Kang and Truth Headlam

Target Corp. is rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, becoming the latest company to reverse course amid pressure from President Donald Trump and conservative activists to end such policies.

The Minneapolis-based retailer said it will conclude its three-year DEI goals and won’t set them publicly going forward. These goals had been set on a rolling basis for nearly a decade.

Target will also conclude Racial Equity Action and Change, a five-year initiative focused on bolstering Black employees’ career development and finding new ways to support Black communities, among other goals. The company said the end of the program had already been planned for 2025.

The supplier diversity team will become the supplier engagement team, Target said, and the company will stop participating in all external diversity-focused surveys. This includes the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign, which grades companies’ LGBTQ policies.

Companies from Walmart Inc. to Meta Platforms Inc. have pulled back their DEI efforts in recent months as conservative activists challenged the legality of these programs following the Supreme Court’s decision to ban affirmative action in college admissions in 2023.

Pressure has only ramped up under Trump, who issued executive orders this week against “illegal” DEI policies. The vagueness of the order has prompted concern among companies trying to gauge how they could be affected. Some are opting to keep their programs, including Costco Wholesale Corp., whose shareholders rejected an anti-DEI proposal by a conservative activist on Thursday.

For Target, the shift comes less than two years after backlash over its LGBTQ-themed merchandise dented sales. Last year, it cut Pride Month-themed merchandise in some stores. About 56 per cent of Target’s employees are people of color and roughly 43 per cent are white, according to its latest workforce diverse report in 2023. The company’s gender divide was the same, with 56 per cent female and 43 per cent male.

Kiera Fernandez, Target’s chief community impact and equity officer, announced the changes in a Friday memo to employees.

“As a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape,” she wrote. She added that “many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy.”

Target is also “further evaluating our corporate partnerships to ensure they are directly connected to our roadmap for growth,” according to the memo.

The company, which runs roughly 2,000 stores in the US, has been trying to reignite sales for more than a year as consumers spend less on nonessential items such as home goods and clothes. The retailer raised its sales guidance this month following a better-than-expected holiday season, but investors remain concerned about Target’s profitability and market share.