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Women Are Fleeing IT Jobs
Lucas123 writes "An alarming number of women are currently abandoning IT jobs that require workers to be on-call at all hours, according to a story in Computerworld. One study cited in the article states that by 2012, 40% of women now working in IT will leave for careers with more flexible hours. 'I think women in that regard are at a real disadvantage,' said Dot Brunette, network and storage manager at Meijer Inc., a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer and a 30-year IT veteran. She noted that companies can fail to attract female workers, or see them leave key IT jobs, because they fail to provide day care at work, or work-at-home options for someone who leaves to have a child.'"
Women and men are different, we just think different and enjoy different things. Men tend to enjoy playing with the latest and greatest toys, and IT lends itself to playing with the latest and greatest toys. I really don't see that in most women. That's not to say that many women in IT don't enjoy the work, but something tells me lots of women in IT got into the field in the late 90's when any joe schmoe (or in this case jane schmoe) in IT could make money. Now that there's not quite as much money flowing, there's much less of an incentive to stay in a career they weren't enjoying to begin with.
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Although I think you have gone a little far with your statement (and have become flamebaited) I must agree that all this "retribution" is getting a little out of hand. Unfortunately, a man (like myself) can say nothing about it without be called a sexist. On the squawkbox or whatever news channel that is, there was recently a WOMAN complaining about the government getting in the affairs of women and how much they get paid. The govt wants to help women have increased wages so that they earn the same amount as a man. However, what hasn't crossed their minds is that the kind of work they do is FAR different from the average work of a man. Many men work in dangerous jobs such as construction, roofing, etc. Many women work as clerks/teachers/support calls/etc and work with more flexible hours.
I do realize that there are quite a few single mothers out there (of course, one could also blame the teenagers that are having sex at such a young age). In fact, I recently discovered that two of my former gradeschool classmates (like, from 4 years ago? I'm senior in highschool now) are pregnant, and one of which for the second time!
I personally think retribution is going a little too far for sexism. I mean, look at these women who marry millionaires and famous actors, then divorce, and NEVER get another job so they can just soak up their divorced husbands money. However, these are the women that do not care about equality, but rather themselves. Many of the women that are concerned about equality are those that do not have it.
Unfortunately, some take equality to the extent of give us everything so that we dominate males.
I do not think that daycare is something the business should have to pay for. You should be PREPARED to have a child, and not already knowing of a neighbor or a daycare center in the area is a serious lapse in judgement. But who am I but a senior in highschool. I say it as I see it.
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Utility companies need to have staffing for 3 shifts and pay overtime when they call extra people in for emergencies. IT techs just suck it up. Guess who's unionized?
I saw an article by a woman talking about why women are paid less than men. She figures it is because women go for the quality of life jobs while men go for the money. Women will take lower paying jobs with higher job satisfaction, better hours, etc. while men will kill themselves for the big buck.
No surprise that women are leaving IT when the jobs suck more and more.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
I think that this guy is overlooking a few things to make an anti-male statement.
I am male and am interested in engineering, computers and math. Why? Not because I am trying to impress people, but because that's my skill. I am good at fixing things and seeing how things are supposed to work and like to do that. If I wanted to impress people I'd become a jock, not a nerd. I do what I do because I like it.
On the other hand, most women I have seen dislike their jobs and do them just to make money. They are mainly interested in social activity for pleasure, while men tend to be interested in accomplishments in their jobs (be it working for a company or just trying to do something no one else has).
Therefore, it's understandable why men would stick to a field they like, even if it is inferior, where women would go to something else just because it pays more and expects less. They already don't care what they do.
Then again, I only got this from observations, and I have seen many exceptions, this just seems to be the norm.
Great Intellect...