The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently held a public meeting on promoting diversity and inclusion in the U.S. technology industry. The meeting was held in conjunction with the EEOC’s release of a report prepared by agency staff analyzing EEO-1 data from tech companies. According to the report, the representation of female, African-American, and Hispanic workers in high-tech is significantly less than their representation in the overall workforce.
Throughout the meeting, which featured testimony and commentary from six panelists representing a diverse set of interests, Commission Chair Jenny Yang, along with other commissioners, expressed a desire to learn more about the lack of diversity and inclusion in the high-tech sector, and to use the EEOC’s resources to help the industry resolve these important issues.
Ms. Yang did not indicate what follow-up action the Commission may take as a result of the hearing, but employers should be aware that underrepresentation of protected groups in tech jobs is clearly on the EEOC’s radar.
The EEOC’s report, “Diversity in High Tech,” is available here. An EEOC press release summarizing the meeting, and the written testimony of the six panelists, are available here and here, respectively.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.