Ahead of its annual shareholders meeting, Apple has asked investors to vote against a proposal that the company should abandon its diversity hiring practices.
Apple’s 2025 shareholders’ meeting is on February 25, and as ever will be a mix of regular business and accounting issues, plus proposals by the various shareholders. These proposals have proved controversial before, even Apple usually gets the votes it wants, but this time a topic will be DEI.
As firms including Meta scale back or abandon their Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring, Apple says that it wants to continue. According to BBC News, shareholders in the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) say that DEI policies expose firms to “litigation, reputational and financial risks.”
However, in a note to investors, Apple says that its board recommends voting against the proposal.
“At Apple, we believe that how we conduct ourselves is as critical to Apple’s success as making the best products in the world,” it says. “And we strive to create a culture of belonging where everyone can do their best work.”
Addressing the issues over potential litigation, the note says that it is unnecessary to close its DEI policies “as Apple already has a well-established compliance program.”
Apple further claims that this proposal “inappropriately attempts to restrict” the company and in particular over how it is “is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training, or promoting on any basis protected by law.”
It’s not a surprise that Apple shareholders would propose this, as Big Tech firms are moving against DEI, in what’s seen as an attempt to gain favor with president-elect Trump. However, for a note to investors that mostly concentrates on regular corporate issues such as the appointment of accounting firms, Apple is forceful in pushing back against the idea.
While the subject is different, the tone of Apple’s response is reminiscent of how in 2014, Tim Cook reacted to another proposal by the NCPPR. The group wanted Apple to justify its environmental and accessibility practices, with the idea that they were too expensive for their return on investment (ROI).
“When I think about making our products accessible for the people that can’t see or to help a kid with autism,” responded Cook, “I don’t think about a bloody ROI.”
