Labor Department Reluctant to Reveal Contractor Diversity Data
Federal contractors required to report diversity stats to government
But public not able to see contractor hiring information
By J. Edward Moreno, Bloomberg Law, Oct. 20, 2022
The Labor Department branch charged with enforcing affirmative action rules for federal contractors is working to keep those same companies’ demographic data out of the public eye.
The government argues that the information could potentially hurt the contractors competitively, and that it has a legal requirement to give each of the approximately 15,000 companies a chance to object to an exhaustive Freedom of Information Act request from the Center for Investigative Reporting asking that they turn over the information.
Thousands of contractors collecting over $630 billion in taxpayer dollars each year keep everything from office cafeterias to the military running for the American people, but with virtually no public transparency about how they are faring at hiring and promoting women and minorities.
Read more here.