A truck driver climbs into a semi-park at a Costco wholesale location in Hawthorne, California, on March 14, 2020.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Costco wholesale U.S. companies said on Thursday shareholders were backing proposals demanding a report on the risks of maintaining their diversity and inclusion programs, signaling their opposition on Thursday to the intense scrutiny many such corporate policies face.
The vote is seen as an early test of investors’ views on the value of companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, which many companies began adding or stepping up in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement.
Costco said more than 98% of shareholders voted against it at its annual meeting.
Last year, shareholder resolutions by U.S. companies seeking to oppose DEI initiatives and other corporate social considerations received an average of less than 2% support.
Lindsey Stewart, director of management research and policy at Morningstar Sustainalytics, said similar results at Costco suggest that even as the political environment that brings politics into the workplace is changing, investors’ low propensity to support anti-DEI resolutions is far from changing. “
U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing government agency heads to dismantle DEI policies at federal agencies, federal contractors and the private sector.
He also suggested that some companies would face investigations and legal action if their plans were deemed discriminatory.
Costco’s proposal comes from the National Center for Public Policy Research, which describes itself as a free-market think tank and asks the company to evaluate potential business risks related to DEI policies.
The group, which had no immediate comment on the results, said the effort could pose legal, reputational and financial risks and could impact shareholder returns.
Costco’s board urged a vote against the proposal, saying the report would not provide “meaningful additional information” to shareholders.
Such as meta platform,,,, Amazon.com,,,, JPMorgan Chase and boeing Modified their initiatives, eliminated their DEI goals or ended the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equity Index. But only now will the majority of shareholders have a chance to weigh in on such issues.
Member-only retailers employ 300,000 people worldwide, with approximately 219,000 employees, according to its 2024 annual report.
