Our research into the second year of required human capital management disclosure in companies’ Form 10-Ks finds a continued general lack of quantitative information. However, within the most prevalent topics for disclosure, we are observing more data being included, particularly when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Public companies in the United States (U.S.) have completed the second year of required disclosure regarding human capital management (HCM), allowing stakeholders to compare year-over-year changes in how companies are disclosing HCM and different topics of interest.

To see how this disclosure is evolving, we analyzed 103 filings from S&P 500 companies for the 2021 fiscal year. In general, the most prevalent topics covered by companies are largely the same as in the first year of the new disclosure rule (see our analysis of year one HCM disclosures here). However, individual companies are disclosing more details on these topics, leading to more robust disclosures.

In this article, we explore the changes year-over-year in disclosure, hot topics of disclosure for the 2021 fiscal year, and how companies can prepare to meet stakeholder expectations for HCM disclosures in the future.

The chart below illustrates the most common categories in year two of the required disclosure.

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