John Deere has announced that it is eliminating nearly all of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in favor of a quality-driven work environment.
The leading tractor company released a statement on its X account on Tuesday, pledging to prioritize quality and customer trust over DEI initiatives.
“To all of us at John Deere, our customers’ trust and confidence is of the utmost importance, and we are committed to earning it every day, in every way,” the post read, along with the full statement.
Their efforts include pledges that the company will “no longer participate in or support outside social or cultural awareness parades, festivals or events,” “audit all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure they are free of socially motivated messaging,” and “internal reaffirm that diversity quotas and pronoun identification have not been and will not be company policy.”
The statement also said Employee Resource Groups will be “dedicated to supporting professional development, networking, mentoring and recruiting activities.”
The statement came about a week later. Film director Robbie Starbuck The report released a video about a number of John Deere awareness policies, finding that the company “funds Pride events for children as young as 3,” asks employees to “list their ‘preferred pronouns’ in all communications,” promotes a “United for Equity” program among its accounting and finance teams, and has formed “LGBTQ and race-based identity groups within the company.”
John Deere did not directly address the report, but in a statement the company emphasized its commitment to listening to and responding to customer feedback.
“To best serve our customers and employees, Deere is constantly listening to feedback and looking for opportunities to improve. As such, we are continually prioritizing internal policies that more closely align our business strategy to meet customer needs,” the statement read.
The statement came just a few weeks later. John Deere announced Large-scale staff reductions due to falling demand.
The company will cut about 280 jobs at its plant in East Moline, Illinois, and lay off an additional 230 workers at its plant in Davenport, Iowa.
About 100 production employees at the company’s Dubuque, Iowa, plant are also affected.
All layoffs are scheduled to take effect Aug. 30, the company told FOX Business on June 29.
Tractor Supply was similarly attacked for pursuing an awareness policy, but then reversed course.
In June, the company Abolish DEI goals and positions And he plans to stop sponsoring “non-business activities” like Pride festivals and get-out-the-vote campaigns and focus more on “rural America’s priorities.”
“Every day, we strive to live up to our mission and values and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve,” Tractor Supply said in a statement. “Our customers have told us we have let them down, and we take this feedback seriously.”
Fox Business’ Michael Dorgan and Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.
