How can workplace injustices be eliminated? The Trump administration’s approach is to stop tracking them altogether.
Recently, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it might stop requiring large employers to collect demographic data on their employees’ sex, race, and ethnicity. In reaction, a group of former EEOC officials issued a statement highlighting the potential dangers to workers, employers, and the public if demographic data collection is abandoned. They emphasized that such data is crucial for evidence-based decision-making to ensure fair workplace practices.
This proposed change threatens key protections against discrimination for workers, and it reflects a broader attack on science—a tactic often used in authoritarian settings to suppress facts and consolidate power. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has been monitoring the Trump administration’s actions against science. The EEOC’s proposed halt to data collection seems to be another politically motivated attempt to suppress information vital to the public.
Employee data have a long history
Data can reveal crucial patterns, such as those indicating discrimination in hiring or pay. Since 1966, the EEOC has been responsible for gathering this information. The US Constitution mandates equal protection for all citizens, and Congress has passed various laws to refine employee rights, like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1997, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Established in 1965 under Title VII, the EEOC set up regulation EEO-1 in 1966 to ensure compliance by requiring employers with 100 or more employees to report demographic data annually.
For nearly six decades, the EEOC has safeguarded underserved and historically marginalized workers. If the proposed changes proceed, these protections might end. The Trump administration has already acted to remove workplace protections for transgender and nonbinary workers and has excluded non-binary employee counts from the EEO-1 reports, weakening the data’s comprehensiveness. This effort to undermine employer data to bypass protective laws is consistent with past actions, as the previous Trump administration also attempted to halt data collection, targeting it as part of the Project 2025 agenda.
Employee demographic data inform worker protections
The EEOC is the primary federal agency ensuring workplace discrimination protection. It investigates complaints and seeks resolution through a multi-tiered process involving mediation and conciliation. If these efforts fail, individuals can pursue claims in federal or state courts or other arbitration systems. The data collected by the EEOC are crucial evidence in these proceedings.
These data are vital for fulfilling the EEOC’s mission of ensuring equal employment opportunities. They provide the only reliable method to compare demographics across companies and years on a national scale. While individual EEO-1 reports are confidential, the EEOC utilizes this data to investigate employment discrimination, identify barriers to equal opportunity, focus resources on violations, and publish reports that identify trends. For instance, in 2024, the EEOC released a report showing continued underrepresentation of Black, Hispanic, and female workers in the high-tech sector. Such information is crucial for identifying and addressing barriers that maintain these gaps, which are also common in the sciences.
Beyond the EEOC, these data assist state and local agencies enforcing civil rights laws, employers seeking to remove hiring barriers, researchers, and the media. These stakeholders can pinpoint and guide actions to reduce workplace disparities. For example, the Center for Investigative Reporting used EEO-1 data to study diversity in Silicon Valley tech firms. Their findings highlighted diversity gaps and blind spots concerning women of color, even if public messaging suggested otherwise.
Hiding the data means abandoning the law
Without these data, the ability to protect underserved and historically marginalized workers—such as women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ individuals—is lost. Workplace discrimination is real and disproportionately affects these groups, and federal data collection provides concrete evidence of discrimination in the US. In 2023, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report examining EEO-1 data to investigate pay discrimination. Their findings revealed earnings inequalities between men and women and among different racial and ethnic groups. The report showed that these disparities cannot be fully accounted for by education, experience, or occupation. Worker surveys support these findings. In a 2023 Monster Poll, 91% of respondents reported experiencing discrimination at work, with 77% witnessing employment discrimination. Ignoring these problems doesn’t eliminate them; it only makes them harder to address.
The administration selectively collects demographic data when it suits their political agenda. By refusing to gather workplace demographics and discrimination data, they’re shirking their duty to enforce anti-discrimination laws.
The administration has waged a campaign against DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), using it as a pretext to cut programs and cancel funding. However, research shows that diversity is a strength. US laws prohibit workplace discrimination, and businesses benefit from diverse workforces, which lead to more innovation, productivity, and profitability. Studies indicate that diverse and inclusive management teams foster greater employee satisfaction and engagement. According to its website, an EEOC study found that diverse tech industry teams drive more innovation. Companies with diverse staff attract more talent, improve employee satisfaction and retention, and boost customer numbers and sales. Diverse workplaces also see reduced harassment. A National Institute of Standards and Technology study found that diverse teams perform better, as similar demographic backgrounds in developers often led to similar errors. These data guide practices to reduce hiring barriers and pay biases. Losing them means losing the advantages of a diverse workforce and fair practices. It’s a deliberate choice to ignore evidence, disregard the law, and perpetuate workplace discrimination.
We can support worker protections and science
This administration has undertaken numerous attacks on science: cutting funding, firing federal scientists, releasing questionable reports undermining the best available science, and issuing executive orders that weaken scientific integrity and independence. Recently, the Scientific Integrity Act was proposed in the US Senate, aiming to establish scientific integrity policies across federal agencies and foster a culture that supports science and science-based policies. With stronger protections for science and scientists, it would be harder for political appointees to halt data collection and studies they wish to ignore.
You can sign this petition to show your support for the Scientific Integrity Act. Furthermore, removing data supporting worker protections requires a rule change, which by law includes a public comment process. Once the proposal is posted, you can comment on it here to oppose the cessation of data collection vital for fair workplaces.
