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Then he went on about how there was no point in putting all the time, money and effort into hiring women, since they'd just go off, get married and take a bunch of time off to get pregnant and raise the kid.
How utterly sexist of him to suggest that pursing a family is not exactly conducive to maximizing your professional aspirations! ::)
But he's right, as it pertains to those employees that companies try to hire with upwardly mobile skillsets for upper management. People scream and shout about women not getting paid the same as men for the same job, without considering the expected overhead and investment for each employee. It does not take a math genius to determine that if one woman requires maternity leave for the birth of the baby as well as putting in fewer hours than her colleagues after the child is born for any number of reasons (doctor visits, sick at school, et al) and another woman requires no such expense in benefits or more importantly, time on the job, which one is better for the bottom line of the company, not to mention the investment the company makes in her for management roles?
Look at Carly Fiorina, CEO of a small company called Hewlett Packard. ;) She has two step children, but none of her own. She spent her life in pursuit of professional goals, and she's succeeded admirably, while her husband (a former AT&T exec) stays at home. Hell, I would too if I were him--if my wife ran a company in the Dow 30 worth $70 billion.
Or perhaps Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, maybe you've heard of them. Two kids of her own, husband is a neurosurgeon of repute. Ran Hasbro for years before taking on eBay when it first started and definitely placed a priority on career over family. She made a conscious choice and seems quite content with that.
I'm all about equal pay for equal work and all that platitudinal bullshit. But the reality is that in a corporate environment, single men and women who choose not to have children (for whatever reason) take up the slack in corporate workplaces for their fellow employees that have families. You're expected to travel more, put in longer hours, and make more personal sacrifices not just to further your own personal ambitions, but compensate for your employees that are married (or not) with children. The notable exception to this is the typical married male that will forgo time at home in the blind furtherance of his career, which in my view is counterproductive.
The point is, male or female, you can't serve two masters. We've all been lied to; you can have everything in this life, just not all at once.