Boeing has reportedly dismantled its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) department, reassigning staff from the division as part of a sweeping workforce overhaul.
Vice President Sara Lian Bowen, who led the DEI initiative, has also left, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The move signals a shift away from what Boeing critics mock as the company’s previous “woke” agenda.
Despite pledging to increase Black employment by 20% and to focus on more minority hiring, Boeing seems to be hitting “delete” on DEI initiatives as it faces financial troubles and a workforce predominantly made up of engineers focused on flying planes, not pushing equity spreadsheets.
Robby Starbuck, an anti-DEI activist, hinted last month that he would target Boeing next in his crusade against DEI programmes. Starbuck claimed that DEI programmes across corporate America “discriminate against white men” and are “one step away from becoming a reality TV segment.”
Meanwhile, Boeing insists it’s committed to an “inclusive environment” without “discriminatory hiring,” emphasising instead a “merit-based performance system.”
Boeing’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, launched the restructuring to reduce costs after facing serious setbacks from safety flaws and an ongoing worker strike over wages.
Boeing plans to cut roughly 10% of its workforce, or about 17,000 jobs.
Ortberg noted in a memo that “structural changes” are essential to keep the company competitive, adding, “It’s hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” but perhaps DEI isn’t one of them anymore.
The meaning of the word inclusive obviously means the opposite these days, has it been changed in the dictionary just like they changed the meaning of the word vaccine??? Must have been coz inclusive does not include the critical thinkers ie the unjabbed…
The end.