US civil rights agency moves to end demographic data collection after 60 years

The U.S. civil rights agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), is set to end a 60-year-old practice of collecting demographic data from private sector employers. This move comes after the Trump administration's Republican majority voted 2-1 to rescind the requirement for employers with 100 or more employees, or federal contractors with 50 or more workers, to submit annual workforce reports to the EEOC. The proposal now awaits a 30-day public commentary period before final approval.

The EEOC Chair, Andrea Lucas, a vocal critic of diversity and inclusion practices, argued that the annual demographic reports could encourage discriminatory practices by prompting companies to justify them. She expressed concerns that the requirement might lead to racial stereotyping and promote discrimination in the workplace.

Civil rights organizations and former Democratic EEOC commissioners have vehemently denounced the proposal, stating that it would deprive the agency of a crucial tool for uncovering discrimination patterns and tracking the progress of women and racial minorities since the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The EEOC has historically used the data to guide its enforcement priorities and inform investigations.

The EEOC requires employers to report on the number of male and female workers in various job categories, as well as the number of workers from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. This data typically covers over 50 million employees and 73,000 employers nationwide. The most recent data, from 2023, shows white men dominating executive and senior manager roles in private companies, while women and minorities have made inroads, particularly in the years following the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements.

However, women remain underrepresented in top roles, comprising just 34.5% of executives and senior manager positions in 2023.