Estée Lauder to hire more black workers
Dalvin Brown
Cosmetics giant The Estée Lauder Companies plans to hire more black employees and buy more from blackowned companies after staffers put pressure on the brand to address racerelated issues in the wake of protests happening throughout the U.S.
In a memo shared on Monday, the company outlined extensive plans to change how it operates in a bid to foster a more inclusive environment.
The company said it stands behind the Black Lives Matter movement and will source more products from blackowned businesses and expand its shades and formulas for people of color.
“We have all taken time recently to grapple with the systemic racial injustice that has plagued the United States for far too long,” reads a joint statement from executive chairman William Lauder, and president and CEO Fabrizio Freda. “We also recognize that we have much more work to do in order to accomplish greater results.”
Other changes include plans to double diverse recruiting, ensure equal access to leadership training and require more diverse slates of candidates for executive director-level positions and above.
Estée Lauder is also donating $10 million to the NAACP and organizations with similar missions. Some of the changes will be immediate, others will take place over the next five years.
The move to diversify its workforce comes a week after more than 100 employees at the company wrote a letter demanding that its chairman, William Lauder, be removed for political contributions to President Donald Trump, reports Bloomberg.
The heir’s involvement is “damaging to our corporate values, our relationship with the Black community, our relationship with this company’s Black employees, and this company’s legacy,” the letter said.
Some of The Estée Lauder Companies’ brands, including Clinique and La Mer, have released statements on racial justice in the U.S. in the wake of protests fueled by the death of George Floyd. However, neither company mentioned the protests explicitly.
“Racism and injustice have no place here,” Clinique posted on Instagram. “We stand with the Black community as allies, friends and family,” La Mer said in a post.