Disney shareholders nearly unanimously rejected an attempt backed by a far-right activist group to withdraw from the HRC’s industry-standard Corporate Equality Index. In response to this week’s Disney shareholder news from its annual shareholders’ meeting, Eric Bloem, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, issued the following statement:
“This vote gives us a clear statement of values from Disney’s shareholders. They know what we know — that despite all the noise, commitments to inclusion pay figurative dividends and help their literal bottom line. And they’re not alone. Shareholders at companies as diverse as Costco, Apple, John Deere, and others in the past months, have resoundingly rejected efforts to roll-back DEI. We know that 93% of LGBTQ+ workers believe that scoring 100 on the Corporate Equality Index communicates support of the LGBTQ+ community – those are current and future employees and customers. Disney shareholders recognize this.”
Despite the growing politicization of DEI and workplace inclusion, some leading global businesses remain committed to the belief that a welcoming, inclusive environment drives innovation, boosts productivity, and strengthens the bottom line, says HRC. Recent corporate statements and actions demonstrate that these businesses continue to honor long standing commitments to fairness and inclusion, because it makes good business sense and meets the expectations of employees, consumers, and shareholders.
Data shows that investments in workplace inclusion initiatives are a business driver, key to employee growth, and attempts to scale back on these commitments lead to backlash:
- 86% of more than 3,000 global CEOs surveyed in AlixPartners Disruption Index say diversity and inclusion are a competitive advantage…and 75% say they have had a positive impact on their company’s financial performance.
- Washington Post Poll: 6 in 10 Americans support diversity and inclusion programs.
- According to 2024 data from Edelman, 60 percent of people say an inclusive work culture with a well-supported diversity program is critical to attracting and retaining them as an employee, up 9 points from 2022.
- For employees at companies walking back their commitments to inclusion, nearly 20% of LGBTQ employees said that they would quit working for that company or start looking for a new job and one-third of LGBTQ employees said their productivity would suffer.
- McKinsey: Companies in the top quartile for gender and ethnic diversity significantly outperform their competitors.
Businesses looking to bolster consumer loyalty as well as expand their consumer base into the future know that inclusion efforts across business operations, from hiring practices to marketing to supply chain decisions, are paramount to their success, says HRC. The numbers are compelling:
- The LGBTQ community commands $1.4 trillion in buying power.
- August 2024 data from the HRC Foundation’s LGBTQ+ Climate Survey found that 80% of LGBTQ+ consumers are not only opting to boycott companies that are rolling back inclusion initiatives, but more than half will urge others to do so also, taking their concerns to social media or sharing negative company reviews.
- Women currently control an estimated two-thirds of global consumer spending and are projected to manage two-thirds of all consumer wealth within the next decade, with estimates ranging from $12 trillion to $40 trillion.
- Black consumers will possess a projected $1.7 trillion in purchasing power by 2030.
- One in four Gen Z adults identifies as Hispanic, 14% as Black, 6% as Asian, 5% as another race of multiracial and 30% as LGBTQ.
