Lockheed Martin is one of the largest companies in America and employs more than 120,000 people. As such, Lockheed ought to be recruiting employees without regard to race, gender, religious beliefs, or political affiliation, and empowering its many managers and executives to make decisions regarding recruitment and promotion in the same nondiscriminatory manner. But instead, Lockheed Martin is engaging in recruitment and promotion practices that prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and open the company up to charges of not only running afoul of its legal responsibilities for non-discrimination but jettisoning its fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder return.
Lockheed Martin is listed1 as a ‘Founding Corporation’ of Catalyst’s “Measuring for Change” community, an initiative aimed at increasing representation of underrepresented groups at both the employee and executive level. The initiative has been touted as a way to refine business’ “talent pipeline,” indicating that the use of diversity KPIs is a tool used in Lockheed’s recruiting and promotion policies. Lockheed’s support2 for such KPIs, along with its use of gender and racial diversity-centric pipeline procedures, raises serious questions about its commitment to nondiscrimination3 and its focus on maximizing value for shareholders.
Lockheed’s policies raise particular concern, given that DEI workforce initiatives are facing sustained legal pressure in light of recent Supreme Court decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, Groff v DeJoy, and City of St. Louis v. Muldrow.
These factors have made DEI increasingly unpopular. The Wall Street Journal recently reported4 that “Diversity Goals Are Disappearing from Companies’ Annual Reports.” Some companies are even revoking their DEI commitments.
This is part of a larger backlash against the politicization of corporate culture. A recent Gallup poll found that only 38% of Americans want businesses to take a stance on current events and that this was part of a steady, multi-year decline among Americans across nearly every age, race, sex, and political persuasion.5
Lockheed should avoid needless political controversies and illegal discrimination and support fundamental freedoms that benefit every American. One step to do this is by increasing transparency around its hiring/promotion practices to ensure such practices are focusing on business goals as opposed to corporate activism.