Why the US may stop collecting workplace race and gender data

The Republican-led Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has moved to eliminate mandatory annual workplace demographic reporting that has been in place for over 60 years. The 2-1 vote advances a proposal to rescind the EEO-1 reporting requirement, which currently collects aggregate data from employers representing approximately 50 million workers across the United States.

The EEO-1 report gathers information on workforce composition by race and gender without identifying individual employees. This data has been used by policymakers and researchers to monitor employment trends and identify patterns of systemic discrimination. The EEOC, established in 1965 to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws, investigates roughly 88,000 discrimination complaints annually across categories including race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability.

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, who has been critical of diversity and inclusion initiatives, argues that the reporting requirement conflicts with Title VII's mandate for colourblind employment practices and raises constitutional concerns. However, Sharon Block, executive director at Harvard Law School's Centre for Labour and a Just Economy, counters that the reports simply provide demographic snapshots and do not compel hiring decisions.

The proposal now enters a 30-day public comment period before proceeding to a final hearing on August 11. The commission currently has only one Democratic member, Kalpana Kotagal, appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022.