Characteristics of Private Sector Employment

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

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Forward

As never before, America's economic prosperity is dependent on our ability to compete in the global marketplace. Maintaining a competitive edge depends on the full use of our nation's talented workers, regardless of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, age or disability. In the global economy, our nation enjoys an enormous labor market advantage when discriminatory employment practices are avoided. A useful step in fully utilizing our labor resources is to understand that the labor market is changing and that some industries have been successful in expanding their labor markets to take advantage of an increasingly diverse pool of talented workers.

As part of its mandate under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires periodic reports from public and private employers, and unions and labor organizations which indicate the composition of their work forces by sex and by race/ethnic category. Key among these reports is the EEO-1 which is collected annually from private employers with 100 or more employees or federal contractors with 50 more employees. Individual employers file separate reports for each of their facilities with 50 or more employees. Our EEO-1 reports provide a very rich data base for various uses. The Commission invests heavily in proactive prevention programs that are designed to anticipate and remove, from the workplace, potentially discriminatory practices. Consistent with that goal, this report seeks to assist employers make full use of America's labor markets by understanding more about the characteristics of those markets. A general overview of what the EEO-1 reports suggests about private sector employment is provided for that purpose. I hope that this publication will be informative and assist you in your efforts to develop and maintain inclusive and productive workplaces.

Executive Summary

• Women represent 48 percent of all EEO-1 employment. Women exceed this representation as professionals, sales workers, office and clerical workers and as service workers. From 1990 to 2001 the percentage of women employed as officials and managers increased by 32 percent.
• The source of the highest per capita allegations of gender-based discrimination was Automotive Dealers and Service Stations.
• African Americans represent 14 percent of all EEO-1 employment, the largest share of minority EEO-1 employment. African Americans exceed their total representation as office and clerical workers, operatives, laborers and service workers. African American employment as Officials and Managers increased by about one-third over the past decade.
• The industry with the largest per capita rate of race-based charge allegations was Transportation Services.
• Hispanic employment in the private sector nearly doubled from 1990 to 2001 reaching 11 percent in 2001. Hispanics employment as operatives, laborers and service workers exceeds 11 percent and Hispanic representation as Officials and Managers increased by about 50 percent over the past decade.
• Asian employment while still a relatively small portion of the workforce (four percent) increased by 49 percent over that period. Asian Americans exceed four percent in their employment as professionals and technicians. Asian American representation as Officials and Managers increased by about 50 percent over the past decade.
• Allegations on the basis of national origin would be filed by minority groups such as Hispanics and Asian Americans as well as others. Auto Repair, Services, and Parking and Apparel And Other Textile Products were the largest sources of these type of allegations.

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

Introduction

Total Employment

Growth and Decline

Distribution by Job Group

Employment as Officials and Managers

Movement of Women from White Collar to Management Positions

Per Capita Charge Allegations

Additional Information

 

 

 

Introduction

 

 

 

Relying primarily on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC's) EEO-1 report, characteristics of employment are examined from six different perspectives: total employment, the growth and decline of employment by industry, employment by job group, employment of officials and managers, the movement of women from white collar to management positions and the bases of charge allegations by industry. The report seeks to capture these measures using the most recent data from 2001 and by examining recent trends from 1990.

The annual EEO-1 report indicates the composition of an employer's workforces by sex and by race/ethnic category. The EEO-1 collects data on nine major job categories: (1) officials and managers, (2) professionals, (3) technicians, (4) sales workers, (5) office and clerical workers, (6) craft workers, (7) operatives, (8) laborers and (9) service workers. Race/ethnic designations used are White (not of Hispanic origin), Black (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaskan Native. In addition to the workforce data provided by the employer, information about each establishment is added to the database. This includes the establishment's North American Industrial Classification System code and in early years, added the Standard Industrial Classification code.

Total Employment

In examining the total employment of women over the past decade (1990 to 2001), the percentage of women has remained relatively constant. However the employment of different race/ethnic groups has changed.

Total Employment by Gender Race/Ethnic Group EEO-1 Data 1990 to 2001

• African Americans represent the largest share of minority EEO-1 employment.
• Hispanic employment in the private sector nearly doubled over the time period.
• The gap between African American and Hispanic employment dropped from nearly six percent in 1990 to just three percent in 2001.
• Asian employment while still a relatively small portion of the workforce increased by 49 percent over the period.

Women and minority groups are not, of course, employed evenly among all industries. The following tables rank industries (as defined by the North American Industrial Classification System, industry subsectors) based on the percentage of women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans/Alaskan Natives. Table 1 lists the ten industries where women have the highest percentage of employment. The highest percentage of women are employed in the Nursing & Residential Care Facilities industry.

Table 2 provides the same type of listing for African Americans. While African American are also highly represented in the Nursing &Residential Care Facilities industry, the industry with the largest proportion of African American employees is Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation.

Table 3 provides similar data for Hispanics. Hispanics tend to be employed more heavily in agricultural industries. The three industries with the highest percentage of Hispanic workers are all in the agricultural industry.

Industries were also ranked on the basis of their employment of Asian workers. Table 4 provides those results. Asian Americans tend to have larger portions of employment in more technical industries. For example, the industry with the largest portion of Asians is the Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing with 13.5 percent.

Finally, the employment of Native Americans/Alaskan Natives was examined by industry. Results are shown in Table 5. While this group represents just a small percentage of employment. The distribution of these workers is not uniform. Native Americans/Alaskan Natives are heavily represented in extraction industries.

Growth and Decline

The EEO-1 data reflects changes in the total employment in various industries. While some industries increased their total employment in the years from 1990 to 2001, others saw a decline in employment. Table 6 lists those industries showing the largest decline in employment based on the rate of change.

Apparel and other textile products saw a large decline as measured by both total employment and rates of change. Table 7 lists those industries where a large increase in employment was observed. While the Motion Picture industry showed the highest rate of change, it still employs fewer total employees than some of the other high growth industries such as Building Materials and Garden Supplies and Security and Commodity Brokers.

The distribution of women and minority groups among the ten industries with the largest rates of change in employment (growth industries) and among the ten industries with the smallest rates of change in employment (declining industries) was examined. Women were fairly evenly distributed among these industries. In 1992, they made up 38 percent of total employment in growth industries and 43 percent in declining industries. In 2001, they made up 36 percent of employment in growth industries and 39 percent in declining industries. African Americans appear to be more likely to be employed in growth industries. See Figure 2.

• African Americans are more likely to be employed in growth than declining industries.
• These different employment rates have become closer over the past ten years.

• Hispanics are just slightly more likely to be employed in growth than in declining industries.
• These differences remained constant as Hispanic employment rates increased.

• Asian Americans are more likely to be employed in declining than in growth industries.
• These different employment rates have remained relatively constant over the last ten years..

• Native American/Alaskan Natives are slightly more likely to be employed in growth than in declining industries.
• Native American/Alaskan Native employment rates are small and have remained relatively constant in the last decade.

Distribution by Job Group

One method for examining the employment status of women and minority groups is to examine their distribution across the EEO-1 job groups.

• Women represent 48 percent of all EEO-1 employment.
• Women exceed their total representation as professionals, sales workers, office and clerical workers and as service workers.
• Women fall below their representation as officials and managers, craft workers, operatives and laborers.

• African Americans represent 14 percent of all EEO-1 employment. African Americans exceed their total representation as office and clerical workers, operatives, laborers and service workers.
• African Americans fall below their total representation as officials and managers, professionals, technicians, sales workers and craft workers.

• Hispanics represent 11 percent of all EEO-1 employment.
• Hispanics exceed their total representation as operatives, laborers and service workers.
• Hispanics all below their total representation as officials and managers, professionals, technicians, sales workers and office and clerical workers.

• Asian Americans represent four percent of all EEO-1 employment
• Asian Americans exceed their total representation as professionals and technicians.
• Asian Americans fall below their total representation in all other job groups including officials and managers.

• Native Americans represent less than one percent of all EEO-1 employment.
• Native Americans exceed their total representation in sales workers, blue collar and service worker jobs.
• Native Americans fall below their total representation as officials and managers and as professionals.

Employment as Officials and Managers

Another method for examining the employment status of women and minority groups is to examine their employment in higher paying job categories such as officials and managers.

• The percentage of women employed as officials and managers increased more than six percentage points during the last decade.
• The rate of change for this increase was 32 percent.

• Minority group representation as Officials and Managers increased substantially over the past decade.
• Hispanics and Asian Americans increased by about 50 percent.
• Blacks and Native Americans increased by about one-third, 36.6 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

Just as the total employment of women and minority groups fluctuates by industry, they are not employed evenly across all industries as officials and managers. Table 8 lists the ten industries where women have the highest percentage of officials and managers. These industries are very similar to those based on the total employment of women.

Table 9 lists the ten industries where African Americans have the highest percentage of officials and managers. While the top ten industries for total African American employment and African American employment as officials and managers are very similar the order varies.

When examining total Hispanic employment, the importance of agriculture industries was striking. Other industries are higher ranked when examining the employment of Hispanics as officials and managers. Service industries seem quite important for Hispanic officials and managers.

There are some interesting differences between rankings based on total employment of Asian Americans and the employment of Asian Americans as officials and managers. See Table 11. The Motion Picture &Sound Recording Industry is ranked third for employing Asian Americans officials and managers, yet the industry does not appear on the top ten industries of Asian American total employment. The same is true for Chemical Manufacturing, Wholesale Trade and Durable Goods and Publishing Industries.

While the order varies, the top ten industries for Native American/Alaskan Native total employment and employment as officials and managers is quite consistent.

Movement of Women from White Collar to Management Positions

Associated with the issue of glass ceilings, is the exclusion of women from management positions. When women experience relatively high employment status, it might be expected that they can move as easily into management positions as their male counterparts. This can be examined to some extent using EEO-1 data. For this analysis, the employment of men and women was divided between managers and white collar employees. White collar employees were defined as those in the EEO-1 job groups of professionals, technicians and sales workers. These white collar employees were treated as if they represented the pool of workers from which officials and managers were selected.

Steps were taken to eliminate those industries where this assumption was unlikely to be accurate. Further, it is not expected that job groups within the pool of white collar workers contributed evenly to management positions or that these relationships would be the same in all industries. Therefore, the job groups need to weighted based on their contribution. An odds ratio was computed for each firm within an industry. The odds for men would be the number of men reported as officials and managers divided by the sum of men reported as professionals, technicians and sales workers using weighted values. The same calculation would be made for women, and the odds ratio would be the division of these two odds. Once an odds ratio was computed for individual firms, a median was then constructed for relevant industries. To improve the accuracy of these calculations, the more detailed North American Industrial Classification System codes for industry groups (four digit codes) were utilized. The distribution of the median odds ratios were examined.

Only the top 50 industries with respect to total employment reported on the year 2001EEO-1 were examined. Results are provided in Table 13 and Table 14. Table 13 displays those industries where women have a high probability of being managers (high median odds ratios). Table 14 displays those industries with low probabilities.

Per Capita Charge Allegations

Examining industries with respect to complaints of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (charge filings) in juxtaposition to employment provides an interesting perspective on differences within industries. Charge receipts from fiscal year 2002 were analyzed examining the allegations contained in those charges. Charges can contain multiple basis such as race and gender and it is convenient to think of these as different allegations. The bases of these allegations were computed by industry for race, gender, national origin, age and disability. These categories refer to the basis of the allegation and not necessarily about the individuals filing the charge. Data regarding the industry of the charge respondent is available based on a two-digit SIC code. EEO-1 data from 2001 was used to aggregate the total number of employees for each of these industries and a per capita charge rate was computed by dividing allegations per 1,000 EEO-1 reported employees. This ratio is important to control for the size of industries as measured by employees. Separate calculations were computed for each of the bases cited above. It is interesting, that even when controlling for size of industries, a number of the same industries are ranked high in different allegation bases.

Table 15 displays results of ranking per capita allegations of race discrimination. The industry with the largest per capita rate of race-based charge allegations was Transportation Services. This includes "establishments furnishing services incidental to transportation, such as forwarding and packing services, and the arrangement of passenger and freight transportation"

While a number of the same industries are highly ranked on the number of both race and gender-based allegations, the source of the highest per capita allegations of gender-based discrimination was Automotive Dealers and Service Stations. See Table 16.

Allegations on the basis of national origin would be filed by large minority groups such as Hispanics and Asian Americans as well as others. The top two industries here, "Auto Repair, Services, and Parking" and "Apparel And Other Textile Products" were not in the top five industries ranked on race- or gender-based allegations. See Table 17.

The set of industries ranked high on age-based allegations are substantially different than those identified above. The statistics for the highest ranking industry, motion pictures, might be somewhat mis-leading due to an organized effort to file multiple charges against employers in this industry. Table 18 shows the data for the top five industries.

The final category of charges examined were those based on disability. While "Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries" was highly ranked on age-based charges,

Table 19 Per Capita Charge Rates Disability-Based Allegations

it is the top source of disability-based allegations using a per capita measure. This industry includes, firms manufacturing a variety of smaller consumer goods such as jewelry, musical instruments, toys and athletic goods.

It is interesting to note those industries ranked in the top five in more than one of the bases groups. Four industries are noteworthy. Personal Services appears in the top five in all five lists. Personal Services is defined as "establishments primarily engaged in providing services generally to individuals, such as laundries, dry cleaning plants, portrait photographic studios, and beauty and barber shops." Two industries appear in four of the five set of rankings. These are Transportation Services and Automotive Dealers and Service Stations. Auto Repair, Services and Parking appears in three of the five rankings.

Additional Information

For additional information visit our web site at http://www.eeoc.gov. In particular STATISTICS and JOB PATTERNS FOR MINORITIES AND WOMEN for sample copies of the EEO-1 form, an instruction booklet and aggregate statistics. See EEOC ENFORCEMENT STATISTICS AND LITIGATION for data regarding charges.

      Prepared By:                Office of Research, Information and Planning             U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission             Washington, D.C.  

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This page was last modified on January 29, 2004.