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Stop Right There. Don’t You Dare Cut Back On Hiring Women
It may have only been bar talk. Or maybe these men were truly upset. But this #metoo reaction makes me fear for our careers.
This wasn’t just the kind of casual whining you’re seeing on Twitter and Facebook from men saying that the office flirting is now too risky, let along office romances.
Or the complaint that men no longer feel safe complimenting women at work, with some even worrying that “hello” said in the wrong tone could be seen as harassment.
We know both of those are just knee-jerk reactions from guys who aren’t thinking this all through.
First of all, pleasantries should never go away. And the primary reason to be at work is, well, work. If a consensual relationship between peers takes place outside the office, that’s their business, as long as it doesn’t affect ours.
No, the idea that chilled me comes from a casual conversation a friend relayed after a business meal.
A group of male executives, bitter over the reckoning that is taking place, insinuated that if women keep this up, their response will be to stop hiring and promoting women.
According to these men, who indeed had the power to control their staff members’ fate, women now present too much of a threat.
