Motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson released a statement on Monday stating that they have discontinued Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) operations at the company. The company said that they abandoned those practices in April, but seem to be responding to recent pressure on social media.
In their statement published on social media, the company said they are “saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community.” The company went on to detail four areas of change within the company, hoping to alleviate pressure against them.
We remain committed to listening to all members of our community as we continue on our journey together as one Harley-Davidson. United We Ride. pic.twitter.com/0feGYhTUMh
— Harley-Davidson (@harleydavidson) August 19, 2024
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They explained: “We have not operated a DEI function since April 2024, and we do not have a DEI function today. We do not have hiring quotas and we no longer have supplier diversity spend goals.” They also abandoned “HRC scoring,” referring to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. According to their website, the index measures “policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) employees.” The foundation boasts that 378 of Fortune 500 companies participated in their scoring for 2023-2024.
Harley-Davidson also noted changes to their employee training, saying that “Training provided will be related to the needs of the business and be absent of socially motivated content.”
Previously, social media influencer Robby Starbuck had criticized comments made by Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz. Zeitz had said at a David Rockefeller Leadership Award event, “Politics and politicians can only do so much… but business can be a significant force for good and not just because it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing for the business itself, being inclusive I think is a critical component.” In Starbuck’s estimation, “It’s clear that he’s telling us he took the job to transform Harley into a woke company.”
Every @harleydavidson rider is going to want to see this. It sure sounds like CEO Jochen Zeitz admits that he took the Harley job because it was an opportunity to transform an American icon into embracing wokeness and DEI.
Read the quotes below carefully. He said this at a… pic.twitter.com/LborUMTGaR
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) August 13, 2024
Related: John Deere Ends DEI Initiatives and “Socially Motivated Messages” After Customer Backlash
Harley-Davidson’s stock price seems to be mostly unaffected by the social media pressure and recent statement, trading around $36 per share at the beginning of August, and showing modest gains to trade around $36.70 on Tuesday morning. The company has a market capitalization of just over $4.8 billion, representing a 7.5 multiple of earnings. Founded in 1903, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin company employs 6,400 people.
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