Tractor Supply Co., a store that caters to people who live in rural areas, was the latest company to back away from corporate diversity goals after conservatives criticized them. This week, the company said it would get rid of roles related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and retire its “current” goals for these areas.
The company Tractor Supply TSCO, -1.40% also said it would stop giving information to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ civil rights group, and would stop supporting Pride festivals. It will also take back its goals for reducing carbon emissions.
People have told us that we’ve let them down,” the company said in a Thursday press release. “We’ve thought about what you said.”
The Human Rights Campaign said that Tractor Supply was betraying LGBTQ+ people by making this change.
“LGBTQ+ people live in every ZIP code in this country, even in rural areas,” said Eric Bloem, vice president of programs and corporate advocacy for the group. “We shop, farm, are veterans, and are agriculture students.”
Bloem also said, “Giving in to far-right extremists will hurt the people these businesses depend on.”
People had been angry for a few weeks because the company supported DEI and LGBTQ+ events, so they decided to do this. A conservative media personality and filmmaker named Robby Starbuck led a lot of that work.
In an X post, Starbuck said that Tractor Supply’s choice was a “massive victory for sanity.” He also said in a video message that the store had turned into “a company that does not reflect its customers.”
Tractor Supply sells things like grills, air conditioners, and lawn mowers. On Friday, shares of the company were up 2%. So far this year, the stock is up 26.9%. The company has more than 2,000 stores in 49 states, as shown in its annual report, which came out in February.
Tractor Supply said in a statement Thursday that it would still work on “ensuring a respectful environment,” even though it was dropping its DEI goals. In addition, the business said it would focus on what it called “rural America priorities,” which include causes that help veterans, teach people about farming, and protect animals.
At the heart of our country and what makes America great are rural communities, the statement said. “It’s an honor to be a part of them.”
After George Floyd was killed in 2020, big business promised to use its power to fight inequality. They rushed to hire DEI consultants and start other diversity programs. Public relations teams sent out a lot of statements reiterating these promises, which were shared via email and social media. But DEI consultants have said that many of those actions were just for show and that senior roles that were supposed to make the workplace more diverse didn’t have enough resources and were basically set up to fail.
Since then, companies have backed away from their DEI goals because of rising costs and more conservatives being against DEI and LGBTQ+ people. This is especially true after Bud Light’s short promotional partnership with a trans influencer last year, which hurt sales. Concerns have been raised about what the Supreme Court’s decision last year to end affirmative action in college admissions will mean for businesses that are still trying to reach their DEI goals.
More involved diversity training, according to DEI consultants and other experts, is needed to get rid of bias in the workplace as the U.S. population becomes more diverse. Some people have also said that DEI efforts might not go away completely, but they might be done in a less direct way.
Last year, Tractor Supply was proud of the praise it had received for its efforts to hire people from different backgrounds. The company said in its February annual report that it was “committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion” and was working on new projects related to DEI.
The company said in that report, “Diversity and inclusion are key to moving our business forward.” “About 51% of our employees are men and 49% are women.” About 18% of our employees are from racial or ethnic minorities.
In the report, Tractor Supply also said it wanted to shrink its carbon footprint by 20% by 2025 and by 50% by 2030. By 2040, the company wanted all of its operations to have net-zero emissions.
