In A Step Towards Diversity, Publishing Giant Penguin Random House Makes Workforce Demographic Public

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, the publishing house stated that the data, which was earlier private, has now been made public.

"At Penguin Random House, we recognise that in order to publish the widest array of voices, our publishing teams must reflect the diverse communities of readers we serve. Greater representation in our workforce is one of our most urgent priorities," it said.

"To this end, we are sharing our workforce demographics in order to track and measure our progress toward our goal of reflecting the racial and ethnic makeup of American society," it added.

It added that the data, which focus on "the racial and ethnic composition" of the company will be public on their website.

"On this page, you can also read about the steps we are taking to recruit and hire a more diverse workforce and see our company's approach to diversity and inclusion," Penguin Random House further said.

"We know we have great strides to make: our commitment to a more diverse and inclusive workplace has never been more important," it said.

The publisher further stated that their workforce data will be updated annually to show their transparency.

"In the interest of transparency, our workforce data will be updated annually to show our progress, keeping us accountable to ourselves and the public," it said.

Amid publishing houses striving to be more diverse and inclusive, the recently announced Booker Prize 2020 shortlist has been touted by many as the most diverse - of the six shortlists, four are writers of colour.