Coca-Cola warns of potential negative effects of DEI rollbacks, saying its efforts are 'critical' to growth

• Coca-Cola has warned that DEI policy changes could negatively impact its business.
• In an annual filing, the company said fostering an inclusive workplace culture was "critical" to its success.
• It comes as rival PepsiCo rolls back DEI initiatives amid Trump's anti-DEI push.

Coca-Cola has warned that changes to policies meant to diversify its workforce could negatively affect its business.

In an annual filing, the company said its business could be adversely affected if it was "unable to attract or retain specialized talent or top talent with diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds."

"Our diverse, high-performing global employee base helps drive a culture of inclusion, innovation and growth," it said. "We aspire to develop a global workforce with diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds that reflect the broad range of consumers and markets we serve around the world."

It added that it remained committed to "providing access to equal opportunities and fostering belonging both in our workplaces and the local communities we proudly serve."

These efforts, it said, are "critical" to the company's growth and success.

Coca-Cola added that failure to maintain a corporate culture that "fosters innovation, collaboration, and inclusion" could disrupt our operations and "adversely affect our business and our future success."

It comes as a growing list of major companies announce rollbacks of DEI initiatives following President Donald Trump's January executive orders, which ended federal diversity programs and placed federal DEI staffers on leave.

Coca-Cola's industry rival PepsiCo rolled back some of its DEI policies this month, scrapping a breakdown of its workforce demographics from a recent filing and removing a line about how a "culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a competitive advantage" that retains talent and strengthens its reputation.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are both government contractors.

Although Trump's executive orders primarily targeted DEI efforts in the public sector, the "ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity" order also calls for encouraging the private sector to end "illegal DEI discrimination and preferences."

Asked last week if the company would be changing its DEI policies to comply with the executive order, Coca-Cola's chief financial officer, John Murphy, said it was "focused on having the best talent around the world," per Bloomberg.

However, he added that it would "follow any change in regulations at the national level."