President Donald Trump has intensified his campaign against corporate diversity initiatives by urging Apple to dismantle its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, Bloomberg is reporting.
On Wednesday, President Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to express his disapproval of Apple’s DEI efforts.
“Apple should get rid of DEI rules, not just make adjustments to them. DEI was a hoax that has been very bad for our country. DEI is gone!!!,” Trump wrote.
Trump has consistently criticized DEI policies, labeling them as discriminatory and suggesting they undermine merit-based hiring practices. His administration has hinted at potential Department of Justice investigations into the legality of such programs.
Despite mounting political pressure, Apple’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly to uphold the company’s DEI initiatives during the annual meeting held on Tuesday.
A proposal introduced by the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research aimed to terminate these programs, citing concerns over potential legal risks and questioning their efficacy. However, the proposal was resoundingly rejected, with 97% of the ballots cast opposing the measure.
Apple’s management stood firm against the proposal, arguing that it would impede the company’s ability to manage its operations and strategic direction effectively.
“Our strength has always come from hiring the very best people and then providing a culture of collaboration, one where people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives come together to innovate,” emphasized CEO Tim Cook.
The debate over DEI policies has seen varied responses across corporate America. Some major companies, such as Meta and Google, have scaled back their DEI efforts in response to political pressures and recent executive orders targeting such programs.
These companies have faced scrutiny over their diversity practices, leading to adjustments in their approaches.
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You can't fix stupid.
No wonder America's average reading comprehension is at a fifth grade level. They voted for this.
I'm not sure why hiring based on competence is seen as a negative thing. Who cares about people's immutable characteristics.
Because the actual point of DEI hiring isn’t to HIRE someone from an underrepresented group, it’s to put things in place to make sure your pool of potential candidates isn’t missing people because of potential biases, discrimination, etc. You’re still hiring the best person. The complaints against DEI are intentionally or ignorantly misstated.
Since when is the government’s job to say to the private company who they can’t hire? Apple should be able to hire whomever they want, for the reasons they choose. If their hires prove to have “questionable efficacy”, that’s Apples problem, the government doesn’t need to protect Apple from themselves.Or do we have a nanny state self appointed to protect the profitability of a corporation?
I’m sure people at Apple are smart enough to be able to decide who is the best available person for the job and by including DEI candidates, they are actually broadening the pool.