Thermo Fisher Scientific is required to furnish an EEO-1 report - a comprehensive breakdown of its workforce by race and gender according to 10 employment categories - to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Council annually.

As intangible assets increasingly drive corporate value creation, investors seek a better understanding of human capital management strategy and performance. A lack of consistent disclosure of human capital practices makes it difficult for investors to evaluate corporate performance.

Detailed workforce diversity data is one critical component of transparency regarding human capital management. Diverse and inclusive teams are associated with greater employee engagement, increased attraction and retention of talent, and a sense of purpose in the workforce.

Disclosure of the EEO-1 report would enable the company to provide a more complete picture of its workforce without additional burdens on the company to collect data. Such disclosure would provide a platform for the company to describe the connection between human capital management and corporate strategy and facilitate informed engagement with investors.

Information about the effectiveness of a company's diversity investments, must be complete, comparable and consistent. Investors need annual disclosure of granular demographic data to know whether investments in diversity have paid off through changes in the numbers of people by race and gender at different levels of the company.

Annual EEO-1 disclosure enables an evaluation of the company's strengths and opportunities for improvement and performance trend, and facilitates comparison across firms.

Thermo Fisher Scientific does not provide this fundamental information to shareholders, although it describes a commitment to diversity and notes internal initiatives. However, the available information remains insufficient for investors to fully understand the company's progress.