John Deere drops diversity initiatives, pledges to no longer join 'social or cultural awareness parades'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/john-deere-drops-diversity-initiatives-pledges-to-no-longer-join-social-or-cultural-awareness-parades/ar-BB1qajj1?ocid=windirect&cvid=392dedb0da454ee19ff21d4cd03d2403&ei=20

Story by Max Hauptman (17 July 2024)

Farm equipment manufacturer John Deere announced this week it is scaling back a series of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the company said it would be eliminating or changing multiple internal policies and initiatives, adding that "our customers' trust and confidence in us are of the utmost importance to everyone at John Deere."

"We will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events," the statement read.

John Deere also announced that it would be "auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages," and would be "reaffirming within the business that the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy."

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

The announcement stated that the changes were based on the company's commitment to responding to customer opinion.

Most of John Deere's US manufacturing operations are in Iowa. And, not surprisingly, Iowa has recently made DEI programs illegal for state institutions. Several conservative leaning companies have taken the opportunity to abandon DEI initiatives following it.

Also, I know from personal experience that John Deere is not a friendly company. They were absolutely vicious to me when my wife needed emergency surgery. I missed a meeting with them while I was at the hospital with my wife, and they called my boss and tried to have me fired. Even after he explained that I had a family medical emergency, they said they would refuse to ever do business with me again. Absolutely brutal people. They operate in a cutthroat culture. They only care about their shareholders and being on the most profitable side of the culture wars.

I did some alarm and security work for them in Moline, IL. I didn't have any issues, but I was a union contractor installing security equipment for them. I was not an employee, but I noticed how the executives behaved. I don't doubt your story one bit. I'm sorry that happened to you.

I have never purchased any of their products or merch and now I never will.