Most big companies now say that improving racial and ethnic diversity of their workforces is an important goal, particularly after a summer of protests highlighting patterns of systemic racism. Very few of them provide enough information to track their progress.
Among companies in the Russell 1000 index, 72 percent don’t disclose any racial or ethnic information about their employees, according to the preliminary results of an analysis of company disclosures by Just Capital, a nonprofit that measures corporate stakeholder performance and pushes for more gender and racial transparency at companies. Thirty nine percent disclose the gender identity of their employees.
Currently, only 4 percent of companies release the full data they are required to collect each year for the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Just Capital and others, such as Eaton Vance Corp.’s responsible-investing unit and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, are pressuring all companies to disclose that detailed information.