Big Companies Disclose Details on Gender, Race in Workforces

Big US companies are giving a more detailed picture of diversity in their ranks, with dozens of them publicly sharing gender or race breakdowns, many for the first time.

These disclosures and dozens of others like them—many from company securities filings—are voluntary but nudged by a new Securities and Exchange Commission regulation, along with investor interest. They also reflect a new focus among many companies on workforce diversity following last summer’s protests over discrimination, racial inequity, and the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

“I can’t say that we have a client that hasn’t talked about it in the boardroom,” said Deb Lifshey, managing director at executive-pay consultant Pearl Meyer. “All companies are focused” on diversity, she added.

Another factor: an SEC mandate adopted in August, which requires companies to begin disclosing information about their “human capital resources”— a broad area that can encompass anything from turnover rates and training programs to safety and diversity statistics.

The rule gives companies wide discretion over what to include, and more than 100 firms in the Journal analysis chose to say little about demographics. But others are enhancing workforce-diversity disclosures, Ms. Lifshey said, adding: “It was something that was already in motion, and this just pushes it a little bit further.”