

Salesforce CEO examines 16k workers’ salaries to make sure women are paid fairly - sethbannon
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2015/04/27/salesforce-ceo-combs-through-16000-workers-salaries-to-make-sure-women-are-paid-fairly/

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paulhauggis
"was that companies with flexible work policies or maternity leave benefits
were actually linked with a slower promotion of women into top ranks"

This actually makes sense. Women with children most likely spend more time
away from work, taking time off for appointments, and leaving work at normal
times (and most likely spending time with the family instead of working on
weekends). All of these things hurt your career opportunities. When I was
working a corporate job, you needed to do all of these things to advance. Some
men with families were also passed up for promotions because they were
unwilling and unable to spend more time at the office.

"My job is to make sure that women are treated 100 percent equally at
Salesforce in pay, opportunity and advancement."

One of the reasons two people in the same position get better pay is better
negotiating skills. At my first job, I found out how much my co-workers made,
by chance. I was paid $20,000 more per year for pretty much the same position
(and almost the same education). He was even there 3 years prior to my being
hired.

Was there some sort of discrimination involved? no. I just knew what I was
worth and wouldn't accept anything less.

Will they also compare men in the same position (one man to another)?

The end result of all of this will be a normalization of salaries meaning
everyone in the same position will be paid exactly the same, which is great
for companies because you will not be able to negotiate.

I'm glad I'm no longer an employee. The IT crowd seems to love making it that
much easier to outsource to foreign countries, pay Americans less, and remove
any leverage an employee actually has, all in the name of "equality".

Why stop at jobs? Should we also make it difficult for any sort of business
deal (which is what an employment contact is) to be negotiated by forcing a
specific rate? Is it fair that I bought my house for a cheaper rate than the
previous owner?

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renaudg
"was that companies with flexible work policies or maternity leave benefits
were actually linked with a slower promotion of women into top ranks. The
explanation: Such benefits can lead to a check-the-box mentality, in which
companies think they've done enough to help women along."

Or how about the more likely (but less P.C.) explanation : taking more time
off work leads to well... less opportunities at work. As it arguably should be
(because meritocracy)

Is the alternative (artificially "correcting" pay gaps) really fair to other
colleagues who worked their asses off ? I can understand the good intent but
it's a slippery slope : is that also going to apply to men who decide to take
time off for hobbies, or is it a female-only privilege btw ?

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morbius
Time off for hobbies and maternity leave are two very, very different things.
Also, slippery slope arguments are considered so fallacious because they're
often the most extreme visions of what will happen, when the most likely
change will be very, very little. The same rhetoric was used to inhibit
women's voting rights, but ended up being fallacious as well.

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undersuit
Are hobbies and child-rearing really that much different? Hobbies can be just
as time consuming and expensive. Some hobbies can interfere with work in a
long term way just like maternity leave. Really the similarity only falls part
that maternity is sometimes not a choice... and I'd rather not open the can of
worms that is abortion; let's just assume that just like a hobby, you have
chosen this path.

~~~
karmakaze
One may also be 'exposed' to a hobby and their degree of involvement is not a
choice.

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alain94040
This is a good idea. An even better implementation is to have an independent
third-party review the salaries and issue some kind of official report or
recommendations.

Smart CEOs would use such services. It's not perfect, but at least you could
address any flagrant pay disparity.

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walshemj
Just a wild guess here the answers "NO" I could be wrong of course :-)

