Well there’s no denying that. But I think northern Europe is relatively sound.
I remember at the graduation dinner for my SIL at Insead an American spouse asked what my daughter was going to do after spending 11 months (or whatever) in Fontainebleau while he completed his MBA. Jill said she’d be going back to work in hospital. The stupid American then announced to the whole of the table that woopee they had a nurse in their company.
Now, I would be the last to disparage the nursing profession, but her assumption that doctors are boys and nurses are girls still pissed me off, (much more than Jill ) and probably will till the day I die. The idea that “Rachael from accounts” wasn’t maybe the bloody CFO was an anathema to me and my wife.
Hey John let me tell you of an incident at one of the best fmcg companies in the world, in London. This took place around 2017.
A very progressive marketing-oriented compamy whose world HQ probably faced yours by the river in London. Full of powerful women, and some powerful men, with budgets and revenue responsibilities probably far exceeding those in your place.
But very, very subtle as to where the power is as modern business is if it’s done well.
I was there as a contractor and watched as my male colleague, from another country, completely failed to recognise who the lady who came to him for help was. I didn’t know who she was either but the oh so casual outfit and other clues, in that company screamed this person is a (very) higher-up. He proceeded to brush her perfectly valid query off and came very close to dissing her. She was female, he missed the clues and treated her like a lightweight. Within the bounds, just about, but it was clear to me. I cringed.
Later I found out who she was and a comment came back that she was used to often being underestimated and brushed it off. Even in the most modern and clever of companies.
SuePJ you may know the place. Best not to trigger the AI trawlers whose haul they get daily, by mentioning.
Agreed. My first job at 18 was with Distillers in 1965. Women were not entitled to join the pension scheme until they were 30 - the assumption being that by then they were probably too old to marry and go off and have babies.
Yes some jobs excluded married women explicitly. Like stewardesses on airlines quite often. Others, practically, also did. You were there as fodder and tolerated to pretty up the place. But you were not expected, actually expected not and to a good extent required, not to stick around. The young gels kept turning over, the blokes didn’t.
John is fortunate in that he worked in a relatively progressive industry and particulatly in pretty much the top company in that industry worldwide That was far ahead of real working conditions for most unless in similarly advanced companies and industries of which there were few.
i worked in a very similar comoany in the same industry. But I also worked the other side of the divide and in all sorts of firms. My partner worked in even more ‘real life’ and tougher firms from age 14 and came from a background that was much closer to Everyman UK than what I did. So I learned from him how life was in ‘real’ jobs and places in the UK ie ‘how the other half lived’ as he put it.
And in my high-tech company, the one very similar to John’s (but John’s outfit were the top in the industry) I am sure that access to the company pension scheme only from Grade 8 and above had the same effcct.
It-excluded 9 out of 10 women employees from getting a pension as a job benefit in that company, would be my guess.. My guess as even in Grade 8, 9 or 10 I was often the only female in a group of, say, 8 in 1 of the 2 most élite ( and small) job groups in the company. So a lot of other job groups would have been left out as their grades did not go so high.
These stories have brought back a distant memory from my early career in financial services. A group of us did the same job and we had admin support, men and women. I was the only female in my group.
One day one of the men had a client come into the office at lunchtime, when some of the administrators had gone to lunch. He came over and asked me if I would make coffee for him and the client because ‘all the other girls’ were out.
) and probably will till the day I die. The idea that “Rachael from accounts” wasn’t maybe the bloody CFO was an anathema to me and my wife.
Needed a good kick in the ass.