Why Companies Don't Always Reveal Employee Data
•January 26, 2026
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Why It Matters
By exposing systematic under‑representation and strategic non‑disclosure, the EEO‑1 data empowers investors, policymakers, and the public to hold firms accountable for diversity failures, driving more transparent and equitable workplace practices.
Key Takeaways
- •Court-ordered release of EEO‑1 data reveals firm‑level diversity gaps.
- •Black and Hispanic representation drops sharply at middle‑management and executive levels.
- •Only 6.4% of public firms voluntarily disclosed EEO‑1 reports pre‑court.
- •Firms with better minority metrics are more likely to disclose voluntarily.
- •Geographic and industry benchmarks highlight regional diversity disparities across firms.
Summary
The episode examines the landmark court‑ordered release of EEO‑1 reports, a dataset that finally lets researchers peer inside individual firms rather than relying on aggregate industry or regional statistics. Assistant professor Rachel Flem explains how the data, covering ten job categories and race‑gender breakdowns for roughly 19,000 U.S. firms, overturns decades of speculation about workplace equity.
The analysis uncovers stark under‑representation of Black and Hispanic employees, especially beyond entry‑level roles. Roughly 65% of firms have fewer than 5% Black middle managers and over 85% have fewer than 5% Black executives. Women’s gaps appear later, primarily at the executive tier, while Asian representation shows modest improvement. Only 6.4% of public companies voluntarily released their EEO‑1 filings before the court mandate, and firms with stronger minority metrics—typically larger, higher‑profile companies—are the ones most likely to be transparent.
Flem highlights that voluntary disclosures are strategically selective: “the better companies are disclosing and sharing that… the lower‑performing firms are less likely to share.” The research also demonstrates how geographic and industry benchmarks expose regional disparities, such as higher Hispanic representation in California and Texas, underscoring the relevance of local labor pools.
These findings suggest that many firms with weaker diversity outcomes are deliberately withholding data, limiting stakeholder oversight. The new dataset equips investors, regulators, and activists with concrete evidence to demand accountability, potentially reshaping corporate disclosure norms and prompting policy reforms aimed at closing persistent equity gaps.
Original Description
Why are so many companies still struggling to achieve meaningful workforce diversity, and what does newly released data reveal about the barriers hidden inside organisations?
In this episode of The Why Podcast, Rachel Flam uncovers what firm level evidence shows about representation, transparency and the forces shaping workplace equity today. The conversation highlights why disclosure matters and what happens when companies choose to remain silent.
Three key themes emerge from the discussion:
- Newly available workforce data exposes the stark drop off in representation for racial minorities at first and middle management levels.
- Organisations with lower managerial diversity are less likely to disclose their EEO 1 reports, indicating that non disclosure can be strategic rather than procedural.
- Transparency plays a critical role in creating accountability, helping stakeholders see where gaps persist and encouraging firms to address barriers.
The episode also explores how firm level culture, internal processes and leadership practices can drive much of the variation in diversity across companies – far more than industry or geography alone can explain. As disclosure trends shift and public expectations rise, the conversation addresses why honest reporting is essential for building equitable workplaces.
Assistant Professor of Accounting at London Business School, Dr Rachel Flam is co author of ‘Behind the Curtain of Workforce Diversity’, a landmark study using newly released EEO 1 data to examine firm level diversity patterns. Discover more about Rachel and her research: https://www.london.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/r/rachel-flam
For more thought leadership and business insights from London Business School faculty and alumni, visit https://www.london.edu/think
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