Statement of the Chair: Strengthening In-House Technological Expertise

Today, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) joins the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and several other federal and state agencies in releasing an agency-specific action statement on building technological capacity.

The EEOC’s efforts to increase our tech capacity will help us better enforce existing laws against employment discrimination and secure equal opportunity for all job applicants and employees in the digital era. Amid a rapidly evolving tech ecosystem – including recent attention on generative AI – building internal tech capacity helps to ensure that agency staff can identify new tech developments, analyze use cases, and pursue law enforcement actions with greater rigor. Also, it will allow EEOC to assist employers, through education and outreach, in preventing unlawful practices from harming workers before they are widely adopted, both limiting harms and saving resources over the long term.

EEOC CHAIR’S STATEMENT ON STRENGTHENING TECH EXPERTISE

Equal opportunity for all workers is key to America’s success as a nation. As we approach the 60th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC is working to vigorously enforce the Act and other federal civil rights laws to protect America’s workers against current forms of employment discrimination in today’s workplaces. With increasing digitization, many employers have incorporated technology into the employment lifecycle – ranging from recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and promotions to terminations. The agency recognizes that the use of technology by employers and others can potentially violate workers’ civil rights. To assess compliance with civil rights laws, the EEOC must be forward-looking in anticipating problems and taking swift action. This means being aware of and fully understanding current and next-generation technologies, innovations, and nascent industries across sectors.  New employment practices and technologies must comply with the nation’s civil rights laws, and expanding the EEOC’s technological expertise will help ensure robust enforcement of those laws on behalf of all workers.
 

EEOC Recognizes the Need to Strengthen Enforcement Efforts Through Increased Technical Capacity and Expertise

It is essential for the EEOC to enhance digital and technological capacity to strengthen and support the agency mission of preventing and remedying unlawful employment discrimination and advancing equal opportunity for all. Among other things, this means building the agency’s tech-related skills and capabilities. Strengthened tech expertise will allow our agency to conduct investigations, identify discrimination, assess remedies, and pursue enforcement with greater rigor.

In alignment with our Strategic Plan objectives, the EEOC aims to incorporate a broader range of technological skillsets into the agency’s work and foster greater collaboration in the agency’s enforcement process. The agency approaches our investigations from an interdisciplinary perspective, and we value cross-agency and intra-agency coordination, where appropriate, to support meaningful federal oversight over potential harms and legal violations under our respective, applicable legal frameworks. Closely integrating technical expertise, tools, and methods will strengthen law enforcement to protect job seekers and workers. This integration will help address information asymmetries and mitigate blind spots, protecting civil rights. Addressing AI and other technologies as barriers to equal employment opportunity is also an EEOC strategic enforcement priority.

In addition, the EEOC recognizes the need for inter-agency collaboration to share best practices and findings on tech-related issues so that we continue to increase tech capacity in our agencies. Building on the existing collaboration across federal agencies, we will continue to engage in discussions with the aim of developing and sharing best practices, elevating agencies’ missions, and facilitating ad hoc discussions to inform timely, relevant, and appropriate enforcement and regulatory action.