Boeing dismantles diversity department
Boeing is to dismantle its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department, according to a report by Bloomberg, which explained that the Boeing’s DEI staff would now be merged with another human resources team.
In a post on social media, vice president of global equity, diversion and inclusion Liang Bowen wrote: “It has been the privilege of my lifetime to lead Equity, Diversion, and Inclusion at the Boeing company these past five plus years. Our team strived every day to support the evolving brilliance and creativity of our workforce.”
Boeing states on its website that it “remains committed to creating a culture of inclusion that attracts and retains the world’s top talent, and inspires every teammate to do their best work and grow their career”.
In 2021, Boeing set out six aspirations it was striving to achieve by the end of 2025 – including increasing the representation of black individuals in its US workforce by 20%, closing gaps for historically underrepresented groups, and achieving parity in the retention rates between all groups. “Our increased diversity is a byproduct of our recruitment, support and retention of top talent,” Boeing reiterated earlier this year.
The dismantling of Boeing’s DEI department comes just days before US citizens take to the polls for what many polls currently indicate may be a close-run election.
In September, Boeing executive vice president and chief financial officer Brian West outlined a number of cost-cutting initiatives the ongoing strike was forcing the company to take – believing that these “necessary measures” would “protect all funding for safety, quality and direct customer support work”. However, new president and CEO Kelly Ortberg has also repeatedly reiterated the need to instil sweeping cultural change at Boeing; stating earlier this month that the company “will be relentless in changing the Boeing culture through action, not just words on a page”.
While critics have suggested that the dissolution of the DEI department – seemingly the latest victim of what Ortberg described as “decisively implementing reductions to [Boeing’s] discretionary spending” – will be detrimental to Boeing’s aspirational cultural changes, Bowen has previously praised the appointment of Ortberg. “Like all the best leaders, he seems to understand that happy employees do better work. Empowered teammates look out for each other’s safety. Excellence doesn’t come at the cost of empathy; it is strengthened by it,” she suggested.
