Stockholm (NordSIP) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s series of executive orders (EOs) targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the public and private sectors appear to have begun affecting companies headquartered far outside the nation’s jurisdiction. Despite being based in Billund, Denmark, the Lego Group’s 2024 Sustainability Statement displays a notable change in tone when compared with the toy manufacturer’s previous publications, which seems to echo current trends in the U.S.
In the introduction to the Lego Group’s 2023 Sustainability Progress Report, CEO Niels Christiansen stated: “We aim to make a difference for children and LEGO fans around the world by embedding diversity & inclusion into the design of our LEGO products, experiences, marketing, and workplaces.” Among the sustainability highlights listed in 2023 was progress in gender balance at senior management level: “We made further progress on our Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) agenda in our workplaces, as we increased the percentage of females employed at Director+ levels to 41.5%.” The 2023 report also includes a full page dedicated to various components of its internal diversity and inclusion programme.
Christiansen’s introduction to the 2024 report puts greater emphasis on environmental sustainability and no longer makes any reference to diversity and inclusion. The term ‘diversity’ is entirely absent from the latest document despite appearing seven times in last year’s report. Staff gender equality data is also qualified by a statement that: “Appointments are made on merit.” The Danish company’s apparent change in emphasis may be related to recent efforts by the Trump administration to impose its anti-DEI policies on overseas companies trading with the U.S. market. Some of the requirements would effectively force European companies to violate their own national employment laws and regulations.
American firms mostly toe the line
U.S. business magazine Forbes is maintaining a list of the actions taken by American firms in response to the anti-DEI executive orders. Although many companies are largely complying with the orders, there remain some dissenting voices such as Costco and the Walt Disney Company (Disney). In March this year Disney shareholders rejected a proposal for the firm to withdraw from a benchmark index rating firms on their LGBTQ+ policies. The proposal had been put forward by right-wing think tank the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), which has previously sued Starbucks and NASDAQ over their DEI programmes. Disney is now under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its remaining DEI policies, which FCC Chair Brendan Carr described as ‘invidious forms of DEI discrimination.’
It remains to be seen how far European multinationals will be willing to go to comply with the Trump administration’s orders. The actions taken by the Lego Group hint at a potential trend to withdraw diversity and inclusion-related terminology and statements from company reporting. Companies will nonetheless have to continue complying with the applicable anti-discrimination laws in their own markets, with some choosing to tone down their external communications in an attempt to fly under the Trump administration’s anti-DEI radar.
