In This Story
McDonald’s says it has a golden rule: Treating everyone with dignity, fairness, and respect, according to CEO Chris Kempczinski.
During the company’s Feb 10. earnings call, McDonald’s doubled down, telling investors it has an “unwavering commitment to inclusion.” However, the company did not provide specific details on what that commitment entails, following recent changes to its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy.
“While we recently evolved our approach, McDonald’s commitment to inclusion is steadfast,” Kempczinski said, adding that the company will celebrate its 70th anniversary this year.
In Jan. 2025, McDonald’s announced it would scale back its DEI efforts, joining companies like Walmart, Google, Meta, and Ford (F+0.22%), which have also reduced their diversity programs.
At the time, McDonald’s revealed that it would no longer set specific diversity goals for its suppliers, nor would it participate in external diversity surveys. Instead, the company shifted its focus toward integrating inclusion directly into daily operations. This restructuring included rebranding its diversity team as the “Global Inclusion Team,” a change intended to better reflect the company’s focus on inclusion rather than specific diversity targets.
This rethinking of DEI programs comes amid broader changes in the corporate world, especially following the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action and growing scrutiny of corporate diversity efforts. This pushback has been further exasperated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s DEI-related executive order.
Private employers, like McDonald’s, could be at risk, according to Mark Girouard, an employment attorney at law firm Nilan Johnson Lewis.
“Diversity representation goals, where companies aim to have specific percentages of female or non-white employee, will be low-hanging fruit,” Girouard told Quartz in an email.
He advises companies to immediately review and reassess their DEI practices, including diversity representation goals. Not all companies seem to be cutting back on DEI. Costco (COST+1.53%), for instance, says it will continue to uphold its diversity goals, which shareholders recently overwhelmingly voted in favor of.
McDonald’s comments on inclusion coincide with its fourth-quarter earnings report, which missed Wall Street’s expectations, largely due to the lingering effects of an E. coli outbreak in late October linked to slivered onions. This setback, which left hundreds of customers sick, has added complexity to McDonald’s operations. The fast food giant must now navigate these headwinds to better align its core business objectives.
“We believe no one is better positioned than McDonald’s to seize the opportunities ahead, face complexities head-on, do something about it,” Kempczinski later said. “We have all the tools we need to focus on what matters most to our communities and customers.”