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Some US tech giants are abandoning their decade-long practice of publishing statistics about the gender and racial makeup of their workforce. Google, which helped pioneer the release of annual diversity, equity, and inclusion reports, has no plans to disclose the information this year, according to four employees familiar with the discussions internally. Microsoft and Meta also will not be publishing diversity reports and data this year, spokespeople for the companies confirmed to WIRED.

The broad loss in transparency, which has not been previously reported, could obscure the impact of President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI policies on the tech workforce. It could also raise barriers for workers and civil rights groups seeking to reshape tech companies to better reflect the makeup of the countries in which they operate.

The decision of these three companies, which collectively employ hundreds of thousands of people globally, also stands in contrast to industry peers. Apple, Amazon, and Nvidia all released new diversity data this year.

Google did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Disclosures over the past decade showed Google and dozens of other tech companies steadily hiring more women and racial minorities, though these groups were still underrepresented in technical and management roles relative to their overall populations in the US. Some companies also published additional data showing higher attrition rates for racial minorities and a lack of diversity in terms of disabled or LGBTQ employees.

Microsoft chief spokesperson Frank Shaw said in a statement to WIRED that the company is not doing “a traditional report this year as we’ve evolved beyond that to formats that are more dynamic and accessible,” including “stories, videos, and insights that show inclusion in action.” He added that the company’s “mission and commitment to our culture and values remain unchanged.”

Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton confirmed the company will not be publishing a diversity report this year. He declined to elaborate on the decision.

“The Facts”

Following pressure from civil rights activists including Rev. Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition advocacy group, Google released employee diversity data for the first time in 2014. Several other tech giants followed suit later that year.

Tech executives said that they had realized the need to be more candid about the underrepresentation of some demographic groups. “It’s hard to address these kinds of challenges if you’re not prepared to discuss them openly, and with the facts,” Google’s people operations leader Laszlo Bock wrote at the time.

Google went on to release 11 annual reports in the years that followed. This included data from 2013 through 2023, with the last report published in June 2024. Meta released data spanning 2014 through 2022. And Microsoft’s final update of this kind came in October 2024.

A US government order to make drastic cuts in commercial air traffic amid the government shutdown has taken effect, with major airports across the country experiencing a significant reduction in schedules and leaving travellers scrambling to adjust their plans.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said the move is necessary to maintain air traffic control safety during a federal government shutdown, now the longest recorded and with no sign of a resolution, where air traffic controllers have gone without pay.

While airlines have started to reduce domestic flights, major global hubs such as JFK in New York and LAX in Los Angeles will be affected, meaning delays and sudden changes that could have a cascading effect on international air traffic.

“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” said Bryan Bedford, the FAA administrator.

Since the beginning of the shutdown, which began last month after a breakdown between Republicans and Democrats over spending plans, air traffic controllers have been working without pay, which has already caused delays.

The US transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, has announced 40 “high traffic” airports across the country that would need to reduce flights. A 4% reduction in operations at those airports has taken effect, but this will increase to 10% over the next week.

Duffy has accused Democrats of being responsible for any “mass chaos” that ensues, even though the shutdown is the result of both Republicans and Democrats refusing to agree to a deal.

The cuts could represent as many as 1,800 flights and upwards of 268,000 seats combined, according to an estimate by the aviation analytics firm Cirium.

With deep antagonism between the two political parties, Donald Trump’s government has beaten the previous record for the longest shutdown, which was set during his first time in 2018-19.

United, Southwest and Delta Air Lines began cancelling flights on Thursday evening.

Affected airports cover more than two dozen states including the busiest across the US – including Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. Flight schedules will be reduced in some of the US’s biggest cities – such as New York, Houston and Chicago.

Scott Kirby, the United Airlines CEO, said in a statement that the airline “will continue to make rolling updates to our schedule as the government shutdown continues so we can give our customers several days’ advance notice and to minimize disruption”.

Delta Air Lines said it would comply with the directive and “expects to operate the vast majority of our flights as scheduled”.

The airspace distruption comes two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday – typically the busiest travel period of the year – and raises the pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal to end the shutdown.

In a statement, American Airlines said most customers would be unaffected and long-haul international travel would remain as scheduled, and that customers could change their flight or request a refund. “In the meantime, we continue to urge leaders in Washington to reach an immediate resolution to end the shutdown,” the airline said.

The government shutdown has left shortages of up to 3,000 air traffic controllers, according to the administration, in addition to at least 11,000 more receiving zero wages despite being categorised as essential workers.

“I’m not aware in my 35-year history in the aviation market where we’ve had a situation where we’re taking these kinds of measures,” Bedford has said. “We’re in new territory in terms of government shutdowns.”