The personnel from the DEI department will be reassigned to a different human resources team that concentrates on talent acquisition and employee experience.
Sara Liang Bowen, the vice president who headed the DEI department, departed from the company on Thursday.
In a LinkedIn post, she reflected on the team's accomplishments, stating, “The team achieved so much – sometimes imperfectly, never easily – and dreamed of doing much more still. All of it has been worth it.”
This shift occurs amid increasing pressure on major U.S. corporations to either dismantle or reduce their DEI initiatives, particularly in response to social media scrutiny.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who has previously claimed responsibility for similar actions taken by other firms, indicated that he had informed Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg and board chair Steve Mollenkopf weeks prior about his intention to reveal their "woke policies."
Starbuck remarked, “Today they’re making a BIG preemptive change,” asserting that corporate America is rapidly moving towards a more rational and neutral stance.
Boeing's decision to eliminate its DEI team coincides with broader efforts to streamline operations and reduce its workforce, aimed at cutting costs in light of financial challenges and production issues exacerbated by a labor strike that lasted over a month.
The company has made a third attempt to resolve the strike by proposing a 38% wage increase over four years, with the union set to vote on the proposal on Monday.