Trump Administration Moves to Stop Collecting Demographic Data on U.S. Workers After 60 Years

The Trump Administration is moving to end a 60-year-old requirement for employers to submit demographic data on their workforces to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. Eliminating the requirement would make less information available to the public about demographic trends—such as how many women or people belonging to racial and ethnic minorities hold top positions at U.S. companies—and could impact efforts to protect workers against discriminatory practices. The Republican-majority EEOC on Tuesday voted 2-1 to eliminate the requirement. A 30-day public comment period for the proposal will follow before it moves to final approval.Since 1966, the agency has mandated that companies with at least 100 employees, or federal contractors with 50 or more employees, must file an EEO-1 form each year. In the form, companies must report the number of male and female workers in 10 broad job categories, as well as the number of workers of different races and ethnicities. The agency argued in the proposal that the demographic data collected under the requirement “is unnecessary to enforce anti-discrimination laws” ...