Molson Coors pumps the brakes on DEI practices

Molson Coors is the latest addition to a growing list of companies reversing their diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

In an internal memo sent Wednesday and obtained by CNBC, Molson Coors executives said the company will be getting rid of supplier diversity quotas, adding that they can be “complicated and influenced by factors outside of [the company’s] control.”

But the brewer has said that it will continue to make sure its suppliers are representative of the company’s diverse consumer base.

“We are ensuring our executive incentives are tied to business performance and do not include aspirational representation goals beginning next year,” company executives wrote in the memo.

Molson Coors also said it is developing “the next evolution” of its company trainings, which will focus on key business objectives instead of its previously DEI-based training programs that the company said all current U.S. employees have already participated in.

Molson Coors will rebrand its Employee Resource Groups as Business Resource Groups, while seemingly maintaining the existing function of the groups, and will cease participation in any voluntary “best of” third-party company rankings in the U.S., which includes the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index that ranks companies based on corporate equality measures for LGBTQ+ individuals. The brewer had scored a perfect 100 points previously.

“This will not impact the benefits we provide our employees, nor will it change or diminish our commitment to fostering a strong culture where every one of our employees knows they are welcome at our bar,” the company said.

The company will also ensure all corporate charitable giving programs are focused on supporting “core business goals” such as alcohol responsibility, disaster relief efforts and promoting access to higher education. Molson Coors had raised more than $700,000 nationally for LGBTQ+-focused organizations through its “Tap Into Change” program since 2011 and sponsored pride festivals.

Although conservative activist Robby Starbuck characterized the moves as preemptive changes in response to his recent probe into the company’s DEI practices, Molson Coors executives told CNBC that the decision “has been in process since March” and is not in response to Starbuck’s demands.

Molson Coors’ decision comes after a wave of retailers over the summer took a step back in their DEI efforts.

Rural retailer Tractor Supply started the trend when it severed ties with the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and retired previous DEI targets like boosting the number of employees of color at the managerial level. Companies like Harley-Davidson and Lowe’s followed suit. Most recently, Ford executives highlighted plans to slash supplier diversity quotas and cut the company’s relationship with the HRC’s metric.

Corporate DEI practices received renewed interest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, but have struggled in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision to overturn affirmative action in colleges. Although the reversal of affirmative action concerns academic institutions and has no legal bearing on corporate initiatives, companies are concerned that the growing anti-DEI sentiment will bleed into corporate America.