May 28, 2015, - 5:35 pm
HUH?! Reddit CEO Bans Salary Negotiations as “Sexist Against Women”
And this year’s Golden Tampon Award for Feminist Absurdity goes to . . . Reddit’s interim CEO. She permanently banned salary negotiations for employees of the San Francisco-based online social media company, saying that salary negotiations are “sexist” against women because men negotiate harder than women. Oh, and when you find out who the interim CEO is, you’ll realize this insanity figures into her long history of whining.
If the name Ellen Pao, Reddit’s CEO, sounds familiar, it’s because she recently lost a much-buzzed-about gender discrimination lawsuit she filed against a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. She filed the suit because she claimed she was passed over for a senior partner position at the firm after having an extramarital affair with a male co-worker. Apparently, she never heard the spot-on saying, “Don’t bleep where you work.” Oh, and her husband’s hedge fund filed bankruptcy, and he was accused of civil fraud. But despite these things (which might make any firm leery of promoting someone with this lack of scruples), Pao screamed, “Discrimination!”
And even though she lost on all counts of her lawsuit, she’s still screaming it. Now, it’s with this silly “salary negotiations are sexist” BS. What’s next?
The social-news site Reddit.com has a tip for new hires expecting to negotiate their pay: Don’t even try it. The San Francisco-based Web company, which has about 169 million unique monthly visitors and is known as the launchpad for viral Web phenomena, has a take-it-or-leave-it policy for starting salaries. . . . Bosses say that taking haggling out of the equation fosters transparency and fair pay.
Reddit Inc.’s interim chief executive, Ellen Pao, says that pay negotiations put women at a disadvantage because men negotiate harder than women. . . . Recent disclosures by technology firms of largely male and white or Asian workforces have sparked discussions about diversity and women’s experience in the industry. Many bosses are trying to come up with ways to attract and retain heterogeneous workforces, and they see pay and benefits as a crucial lever. “People who perform the same should be paid the same,” Ms. Pao says. “We want to make sure we maintain this level playing field.”
Prospective Reddit employees can choose between two offers—one weighted more toward equity, the other toward cash. With just about 50 employees, Ms. Pao says that it’s hard to know whether the company has a gender pay gap but she wants to ensure one doesn’t develop as the company grows.
Not everyone agrees. Users on Reddit’s own discussion boards took issue with the policy, with one sniping that “meritocracy is playing second fiddle to gender politics.” Kenan Abosch, who leads Aon Hewitt’s compensation consulting practice, cautions that A-players might not want to work for a company where pay is preset. Others question whether such policies actually help advance women.
I’m not quite sure why men are penalized for not being weak. Well, actually, I am sure. The point is to make men weak and to be penalized for showing any initiative whatsoever. And the further point is to make every process weaker to accommodate weaker women. That’s the real sexism.
Linda Babcock, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University who researches women and pay negotiation, says that standardizing starting salaries might go far in fixing pay imbalances. . . . “Women will follow the rules, men will still try to negotiate, and if they are successful, that will further the gap.” . . . Research by both Dr. Babcock and Hannah Riley Bowles, a Harvard University lecturer who studies women and negotiation, has shown that men are about four times more likely than women to negotiate pay but that women are viewed more unfavorably when they do so. As a result, “women’s reticence to negotiate is very real,” says Dr. Bowles.
Tough. Why would any sane corporate official set policy to accommodate the weakest elements of her company?
Also, Pao and others of her warped mindset, including Diapers.com founder (how appropriate!) Marc Lore, believe men are rude and have bad manners, which makes them succeed in salary negotiations.
The approach ensures the company isn’t biased toward loud or aggressive workers even once they’re in the company, says Marc Lore.
Lore recently posted a missing persons alert for his testicles.
BTW, I heard that Ellen Pao wants to get rid of Reddit’s urinals in men’s restrooms. Those are sexist. Ditto for the men’s restrooms. After all, men talk about work in there, and women are at a disadvantage not being in on the discussions that take place there.
I made that up. But the way things are going, that’s coming very, very soon. Don’t bet against it.
Tags: Ellen Pao, Feminism, Kenan Abosch, Linda Babcock, Marc Lore, Reddit
“Social media”? Now there’s a valuable service.
It sounds to me like Ellen Pao is just looking for an excuse to keep the compensation down for her employees, therefore leaving more for herself.
Little Al on May 28, 2015 at 6:29 pm