Pets at Home have been slammed for âcorporate virtue-signallingâ after it emerged an employee of the retailer had described being âchildlessâ as a form of privilege in a staff diversity âwebinarâ.
The âallyshipâ webinar, available to Pets at Home employees, included a host expressing her view that her âprivilegeâ was being âa white, straight, non-disabled, childless, married, economically stable, homeowner, living in a developed countryâ.
Its contents â alongside other internal âdiversity and inclusionâ documents â were leaked by a whistleblower to commentator James Esses, who published a scathing report on the pet seller on his blog.
Esses called the opinion â of an individual, not Pets at Home â expressed on the webinar âoutrageous and offensiveâ, and asked: âHow âprivilegedâ does a couple unable to have children feel? And what does it say to parents, suggesting that having children is some sort of handicap?â
Pets at Home is the latest British retailer to come under fire for ‘woke’ in-house guidance
PA/Pets at Home
Though GB News understands the employee was not implying that having children was negative in itself â and instead was supporting colleagues who had the burden of balancing childcare with work commitments.
Another webinar included a Q&A with then-senior employee in which he was asked why LGBTQ+ people were attracted to working with animals.
The employee said: âThis is a huge generalisation, so Iâm going to be shut down for this, but in my experience I think generally people from [the LGBTQ+] community actually often have a much higher level of EQ (emotional intelligence), because I think they often have a greater sense of who they are and know themselves better and are more tuned in to the softer sides of life.â
Esses said listening to the response meant he âsimply could not take any moreâ of the pet firmâs guidance, and asked: âHow must the staff at Pets at Home feel, having this ideology shoved down their throats?”
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Pets at Home asked all their staff to consider sharing their pronouns in a range of settings
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It also emerged Pets at Home circulated a range of in-house documents on topics like pronouns, allyship, and diversity and inclusion.
Esses described the companyâs request for âall colleagues to consider sharing their pronouns on their email signatures, name badges, and during introductionsâ as âadherence to gender ideologyâ.
Pets at Home stressed their request was ânot mandatoryâ, but said: âThe more of us who choose to do so, the more normalised it becomes and means individuals are less likely to feel singled out. Please show respect by using the correct pronouns.â
Other documents contained in the exposé included a guide to choosing suppliers which told staff to âconsider asking suppliers about their own approach to diversity and inclusionâ as it would help the firm to âhave a wider positive impactâ.
James Esses said the internal memos were an example of âcorporate virtue-signallingâ
Pets at Home
Pets at Home also circulated a â10 ways you can make a differenceâ handbook which Esses described as a âcorporate virtue-signalling manifestoâ, alongside a âdiversity and inclusion calendarâ.
This is not the first British retailer to circulate similar in-house guidance; earlier this year, it emerged John Lewis had published advice for parents of trans children seeking to âeducate themselvesâ.
A Pets at Home spokesperson told GB News: âAt Pets at Home, we celebrate the diversity of the communities we operate in and empowering colleagues to share their own experiences and views can help us achieve this and create a better, more inclusive working environment.â
In another statement, the firm said the handbook âwas created in response to colleague feedback requesting more specific guidance from the business on how to be inclusiveâ and âis a guide to ensure that all colleagues and customers are treated with respect.â
