Best Buy Offers Leadership Programs for Non-White Employees Only

Twin Cities-based retailer Best Buy is running discriminatory professional development programs that are open to non-white employees only, according to reports.

A whistleblower shared screenshots of an internal company memo on the programs with O’Keefe Media Group, the group reported on Twitter.

DISCRIMINATION: A Citizen Journalist has revealed Best Buy is partnering with McKinsey & Company on a Management Training Program.

The program is not open to white applicants. “Candidates must meet the [racial] requirements below”

Any comment @BestBuy? pic.twitter.com/lxfivezCa6

— O’Keefe Media Group (@OKeefeMedia) August 8, 2023

The requirements that applicants must meet include working in a salaried role for more than one year and “Identify as Black, Latino, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander.”

According to a July 2022 press release, Best Buy began partnering with McKinsey & Company in 2020 to offer a “McKinsey Management Accelerator program,” which customizes its “curriculum and discussions to the unique situations, experiences and opportunities of BIPOC professionals.”

The company is now offering a “new, three-month program called Leadership Essentials,” according to the screenshots shared by O’Keefe Media group.

Applicants for “these programs” must attest to their BIPOC identity, the screenshots show.

Best Buy offers the programs as part of its “commitment to develop and support our employees who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC),” according to the July 2022 release.

{snip} The company shared that as of 2022, over 200 employees had either begun or completed the accelerator program.

The electronics retailer explained that while the program initially started for Black employees only, it expanded to include employees who “identify as Hispanic/Latino or Asian.”

{snip}