Contractors Likely to Be Required to Use New EEO Census Data Starting in January 2014

While OFCCP has so far issued no formal announcement, agency representatives have begun to suggest that federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to use the new EEO census data now available from the Census Bureau in affirmative action plans completed after December of 2013.  This new EEO data will take the place of the 2000 census data that has been used in affirmative action plans for the last ten years.

The new EEO data is significantly different from the 2000 EEO data in a number of ways. Following the 2000 census survey, the Census Bureau released an EEO file that contained demographic data by race, ethnicity, and gender on the jobs held by American workers. The EEO data released in January of 2013 also contains demographic data by race, ethnicity, and gender on jobs. However, the new EEO data is NOT based on the 2010 census survey.  Instead, it is a composite of surveys conducted as part of the on-going American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is a survey conducted every year that samples a certain percentage of the population about a variety of factors including education, employment, income, language, and race.

Another change from the past involves the manner in which the EEO data has been made available to the public.  Data from the 2000 census were made available on the web with a data tool to help users easily access information for various geographical areas and populations. The new EEO data is available on the web and there is extensive additional information beyond that provided with the 2000 census files. However, there is no data tool similar to that made available for the 2000 EEO data. While the new EEO data is also available for download from an FTP site, the FTP site will typically be used by organizations that have extensive experience using database tools to manipulate very large data files. The files available from the FTP site cannot be read by common business applications such as Excel.

As we noted in a previous blog post, federal contractors and subcontractors attempting to use the new EEO data themselves may experience a number of logistical and other problems.  OFCCP may have recognized the issues concerning the new EEO data by moving the target date for using this new EEO data to January of 2014.