IBM and DEI

[Staph]

I worked for IBM for 36 years, retiring in 2014. Every stinking year we had diversity training, sometimes just a couple of hours of videos and the branch manager reading corporate policy aloud; other years we were sent to a two-day seminar to hear about all of the communities within the company and how we were expected to behave as employees of a diverse organization.

I was wondering how the Republican attacks on DEI were going to effect IBM policy, so I did a simple search on "IBM DEI". I am proud to say that IBM is still continuing their long history of diversity and inclusion, reaching back to the 1910s.

Take a look!
https://www.ibm.com/impact/be-equal

(Edited to add - and in so far as I know, no IBM executive made the trek to Mar-a-lago!)

[Bluetus]

1. I spent much of my career in direct competition with IBM

There was plenty of animosity, but I must say I am not surprised that IBM would be principled, and one of the increasingly rare companies to stand with principles.

My salute to IBM. Let's hope they can remain strong. Trump is so fragile emotionally, he obsesses about anybody who doesn't bend to his caprice. Maybe we can see IBM and similarly mature companies start to stand together against this fascism. It is going to take something like that because so many of our institutions have failed.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. When my husband took a leave of absence from IBM in 1992

to bridge 4 years so he could get his full retirement after 30 years, he drove limousine for a local company. In 1993, one of his pickups at the Rochester Airport was none other than Lou Gurstner. He was assigned to him whenever he needed to go anywhere.

I said to my husband jokingly, "Were you thinking, 'Lou, you better make damn sure I get my full retirement as promised me?'" He nodded yes. He thought it, but could not say it.

My husband was thousands of career people IBM wanted to get rid of because they were too old and made too much money a few years after winning the Malcom Baldridge Award in 1990.

This is in part to what IBM is about. Since my husband's employment, IBM has gotten more diverse to a degree. My husband still gets his retirement each month.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. AS an IBM retiree (2003), I'm glad.

[usonian]

4. My most memorable work years were for the University of California.

Diversity leads to excellence.

Notice the white bread clown show.

[morillon]

5. Former IBMer here, too

I became an IBMer when Lotus Development was acquired. Lotus was way way way before its time on LGBTQ policy, and there was concern, of course, that we would lose our culture. I think, if anything, some of Lotus rubbed off on IBM.

I'm pleased to hear they're standing firm.

My current employer is, as well. I won't mention who they are, for safety reasons. I will say, though, that when I very recently got an email that one of my senior leaders was scheduling an optional DEI book club discussion, I freaking burst into tears at my desk. I work remotely, so nobody saw, but I felt such relief and pride that my people are trying so hard to do the right thing.

[DBoon]

6. Diversity isn't just benign altruism for companies like IBM

International commerce requires the ability to understand and work with other cultures.

[Staph]

7. One of the sayings that they taught us -

"People buy from people like themselves." If you don't have a diverse workforce, you will only sell to old white men. You know, those guys who are rapidly becoming the minority in this country!

[DBoon]

8. and have long been a very small minority in the world.

ever since post-WWII decolonization

You want to be a global company, your workforce needs to understand diversity

[Bluetus]

9. Not to mention that your customers are probably diverse

no matter what industry you are in.

It is self-serving to support D, E, and I unless your business is selling Confederate flags out of the back of a pick-up truck.

[thomski64]

10. .the most unqualified DEI hires ever....

DonEricIvanka...

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Costco's shareholders overwhelmingly reject anti-DEI proposal

Another corporation that is in the right place:

Costco's shareholders rejected a proposal by a conservative think tank aimed at getting the company to roll back its diversity hiring practices, the Associated Press reports — a move that leaves the world's third-largest retailer an outlier as many U.S.-based corporations retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The company's board had recommended that shareholders reject the proposal by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), arguing that it wasn't in line with Costco's "commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect."
...
In the vote, 98% of shareholders rejected the proposal.
...
"Our efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion remind and reinforce with everyone at our Company the importance of creating opportunities for all," it said. "We believe that these efforts enhance our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed."

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/23/nx-s1-5272664/costco-board-rejects-anti-dei-motion-hiring