We’re only a little over a month into the new year, but workplaces across the country have already undergone a major shift.
After Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as president on Jan. 20, he quickly got busy tackling his workplace pet peeves by signing two major executive orders that have had a significant domino effect on corporate America.
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One executive order, issued the day he took office on Jan. 20, mandates that all federal agencies require their employees to return to in-office work full time. The move further intensifies the nationwide tug-of-war between employers and employees over remote work and whether or not it is beneficial or harmful for workplace productivity.
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The next day, Trump issued another executive order dismantling the federal government’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. He claims in the order that the programs enforce “illegal and immoral discrimination.”
The decision comes after many major companies, such as Walmart, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, etc., axed their DEI programs last year amid consumer pressure and legal concerns surrounding the policies. McDonald’s, Amazon, and Meta also followed in their footsteps in early January.
While these executive orders have led to major workplace shifts across the country, layoffs are still very much underway, especially in the tech industry, where Meta, Google, and Amazon have all recently announced job cuts.
Here is the top workplace news that took place over the last few weeks.
Target cuts DEI and faces a major consequence
About two weeks ago, Target (TGT) decided to scale back its DEI program including discontinuing initiatives such as withdrawing its participation in the Human Rights Campaign survey, which tracks LGBTQ+ corporate policies and practices. It also ended its three-year DEI goals and opted to conclude its Racial Equity Action and Change initiatives.
The move from Target came as a surprise, as it has always touted its DEI policies. However, in 2023, it faced a massive boycott from consumers for marketing some of its pride collection items towards children. The retailer has struggled with weak sales ever since.
Target’s recent cut to DEI did come with an unintended consequence. Labor advocacy group We Are Somebody called for consumers to boycott all Target locations, which started on Feb 1, due to the retailer rolling back DEI. The group’s boycott call went viral on social media platform X, gaining almost 3 million views.
Related: Target’s latest policy change sparks massive boycott threat
Target is also currently facing a class-action lawsuit from a group of its shareholders for allegedly failing to disclose the risks associated with having a DEI program, such as consumer boycotts.
Major banks defend DEI despite backlash
While Target is throwing up the peace sign to several DEI initiatives, a few major banking giants are doing the opposite. During a time when shareholder advocacy groups are pushing for several banks to remove their DEI programs, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and JP Morgan Chase recently defended DEI.
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 22, Goldman Sachs said that its company can benefit from diversity in the workplace and will remain committed to its DEI policies and programs in compliance with the law.
Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing also fiercely defended the company’s DEI program last week during a press conference in Frankfurt.
“We are now firmly behind this program,” said Sewing while speaking to reporters. “We can see how Deutsche Bank has benefited from it.”
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JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also stated in an interview with CNBC two weeks ago that he is proud of the company’s recent DEI initiatives.
“We are going to continue to reach out to the Black community, Hispanic community, the LGBT community, the veterans community, we have a special program, a disabled second chance initiative,” said Dimon. “And wherever I go, red states, blue states, green states, mayors, governors and they said they like what we do.”
Costco doubles down on DEI, but Republican officials aren’t happy
Costco (COST) was the first major company to boldly defend its DEI program this year, which sparked backlash and boycott threats from some consumers on social media.
On Jan. 23, Costco shareholders even voted against a proposal that aimed to completely axe the company’s DEI program due to concerns that it poses “litigation, reputational and financial risks.”
Shortly after the vote, however, 19 Republican state attorneys sent a letter to Costco CEO Ron Vachris urging the company to end its “woke” DEI policies immediately, claiming that it causes “unlawful discrimination.”
“Although Costco’s motto is ‘do the right thing,’ it appears that the company is doing the wrong thing – clinging to DEI policies that courts and businesses have rejected as illegal,” reads the letter. “Costco should treat every person equally and based on their merit, rather than based on divisive and discriminatory DEI practices.”
Dell scales back remote work
Dell (DELL) is time traveling back to 2019 as it recently declared war on remote work in its workplace.
A recent report from Business Insider revealed that Dell CEO Michael Dell has sent a memo to employees warning them that starting in March, all staff members who live within an hour away from offices will be required to fully return to the office.
In February last year, the tech company began mandating that most of its employees work from the office three days a week for a minimum of 39 days each quarter.
The CEO also said in the memo that the company was cutting remote and hybrid work due to the fast pace of innovation in the tech industry.
“What we’re finding is that for all the technology in the world, nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction,” said Dell. “A thirty second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days.”
LVMH CEO coins new phrase for being fired
Last month, Meta revealed in an internal memo to employees that it was cutting about 3,600 jobs, which is about 5% of its staff.
During an earnings call last week, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault responded to Meta’s recent layoffs by claiming that those employees were being “promoted outwards, so to speak.”
He also said during the call that LVMH (LVMHF) also recently laid off an unknown number of employees at its luxury jewelry brand Tiffany’s, which it acquired in 2021. He claimed that before the acquisition, the company was “a sleeping beauty.”
“When you’re used to sleeping for 10 years, and you’re all of a sudden asked to become fierce, and when you’re expected to achieve high objectives, some people can’t,” said Arnault during the call. “Unfortunately, we were not able to keep everyone.”
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