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Reddit CEO Ellen Pao Bans Salary Negotiations To Equalize Pay For Men, Women

sabri points out that Reddit CEO Ellen Pao plans to ban salary negotiations in an attempt to equalize pay for men and women. "After losing a sex-discrimination lawsuit in Silicon Valley last week, Ellen Pao continues on her crusade to bring gender equality to the tech world, but this time with a focus on her home turf. As Reddit’s interim CEO, Pao said she wants to eliminate salary negotiations from the company’s hiring process. In her first interview since the lawsuit, Pao told with the Wall Street Journal Monday that the plan would help level the playing field. 'Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate,' she said. 'So as part of our recruiting process we don’t negotiate with candidates. We come up with an offer that we think is fair. If you want more equity, we’ll let you swap a little bit of your cash salary for equity, but we aren’t going to reward people who are better negotiators with more compensation.'"

892 comments

  1. Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Penalising better negotiators is hardly a good thing regardless if it's trying to promote equality. Really all they're doing is saving money.

    1. Re:Hmm by Crashmarik · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Really all they're doing is saving money.

      Yep. I will bet good coin, that the average salary as a whole goes down over this.

    2. Re:Hmm by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think that in the end they might make it harder for themselves to recruit talent.

      E.g. they find a really talented person who already has a job, but they REALLY want THIS person, so they make an offer. This person already makes at or near the amount offered, so he/she wants to negotiate for more before considering taking the position. End result is they don't acquire the talent they want and settle for something else.

      I personally haven't tried to bargain for more, but I'm still rather fresh out of college so I've been rather satisfied with the offers I've received.

    3. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, really all they are doing is driving more talented individuals away from their business.

      If men are better negotiators...just accept it. Anything else is treating women like helpless victims. "aw they can;t do the negotiating stuff so good. here, we'll protect you from the big bad evil men!" Really? Every woman in that office should be protesting if they REALLY want equality.

      Equality is not treating everyone the same. Its giving them the same opportunities and letting them do with them as they can. Because yes, the sexes cannot be equal. Each has talents and abilities inherent to them the other does not share or is not as good at. Giving them the same chances and letting them rise or fall according to their abilities is equality. Anything else is just Harrison Bergeron-ing everyone.

    4. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If men are better negotiators...

      Is Pao saying that women are inferior negotiators? Sound s sexist to me.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    5. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which means the average quality of their employees goes down as well, unless they just pay everyone more which means they are wasting money they could keep by negotiating.

    6. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Really all they're doing is saving money.

      Yep. I will bet good coin, that the average salary as a whole goes down over this.

      To me, this just means that they don't need a bigger tech workforce, so they shouldn't need any H1-Bs by extension.

      If I was running a company, I'd want to setup a tiered payment system with bonuses for time employed or the like. I have no problem with this. Regional job value and cost of living are the two large negatives to this design.

    7. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, there are two problems. (1) Women are socialized to not negotiate. And, much more importantly, (2) the people the women are negotiating with are sexist (unconsciously or not) and will tend reject attempts to negotiate from women.

    8. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Men are interested in more money, many women are interested in better lifestyle, more flexible hours to take care children . That's why this inequality pay argument is bs . It's a conscious choice by many . At wife negotiated a large raise while her make counterpart negotiated for more flexible hours as a single dad of 2

    9. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is Pao saying that women are inferior negotiators? Sound s sexist to me.

      How does that bode for women in roles that require negotiation as part of the job? I have certainly seen a lot of women that are very good at negotiation, which is why they are good at the jobs they do that require it. Pao herself is in such a job and seems to do pretty well.

    10. Re:Hmm by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

      Really all they're doing is saving money.

      Yep. I will bet good coin, that the average salary as a whole goes down over this.

      BINGO! And I see I'm not the only one suspicious of her bizarre excuse for refusing to negotiate.

      --
      This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    11. Re:Hmm by Tawnos · · Score: 2, Informative

      If a man and a woman both use the same tactics for negotiation, the guy will, on average, be rewarded for it more than the woman. There is a lot of evidence that there is subconscious bias applied - guys are seen as "hard negotiators/motivated/etc" while gals are seen as "high needs/bitchy/demanding".

    12. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And, much more importantly, (2) the people the women are negotiating with are sexist (unconsciously or not) and will tend reject attempts to negotiate from women.

      If that is the issue then *that* is what needs to be addressed, removing negotiation doesn't solve it because you have just moved the problem elsewhere. Now if the people coming up with the offer are sexist you end up with the same situation. If what she says is true then put a woman in as the hiring negotiator, or a woman and a man.

    13. Re:Hmm by BradMajors · · Score: 1

      No, really all they are doing is driving more talented individuals away from their business.

      Maybe that is how they plan on hiring more women!

    14. Re:Hmm by Ixokai · · Score: 4, Informative

      You're missing the part where there are actual studies that show that when women DO negotiate, they get penalized FOR doing so. Women are seen as "pushy" and "demanding" whereas a man doing the same thing is "assertive".

    15. Re:Hmm by mariox19 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Perhaps—just perhaps—the women who do attempt to negotiate are, statistically speaking, more pushy and demanding. There is a certain style to negotiating. Maybe, by and large, women are less likely to negotiate. And, maybe, the ones who do are more likely to do it wrong. I think it possibly could be more complicated than people would like to think.

      --

      quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.

    16. Re:Hmm by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think that in the end they might make it harder for themselves to recruit talent.

      Or easier, now that the initial offer is also their best offer, rather than a low-ball. This may also encourage more resume submissions from people that don't like to haggle.

    17. Re:Hmm by Daemonik · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Or, conversely, they find a strong willed individual who's great at negotiating but sucks at the actual job and their overpowering personality always derail's team tasks.

      Negotiating skill does not equate to job performance, unless your job is being a negotiator.

    18. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If a man and a woman both use the same tactics for negotiation, the guy will, on average, be rewarded for it more than the woman. There is a lot of evidence that there is subconscious bias applied - guys are seen as "hard negotiators/motivated/etc" while gals are seen as "high needs/bitchy/demanding".

      Um huh - I sort of agree, but by the other women.

      I know a number of women who were successful in their fields, including my SO.

      Most of them say their biggest problem is not with men. But with other women. My wife, who can negotiate as well or better than anyone I know, BTW, has had more problems with other women who simply hate her. Oddly enough, the men she works with and those who worked for her, just love her. And since she's dealing with a number of construction guys, they are not always the most liberated. But they do what she tells them to do, no griping. The women though, are not so nice.

      And the same went for the successful female engineers I've worked with. The less successful ones had more of a concept of forcing a new paradigm on the workplace, with a sort of 40 hours only outlook, no lost vacation, sick leave balance of 0.

      Meanwhile the successful men and women were doing what they had to to get the job done, not trying to mold the workplace towards the LCD.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    19. Re:Hmm by Daemonik · · Score: 0, Troll

      Or perhaps, just perhaps, men have an unconscious (and sometimes not so unconscious) bias to be offended by assertive women.

    20. Re:Hmm by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

      All anyone of sufficient talent will need to do is either go back to their company, or if searching for other jobs get another offer, and reply simply, 'Company X is offering me this amount. If you can't match it, I go there."

      If they don't have another offer, are they sure they want that person?

      There's the mechanism for recruiting inferior talent.

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    21. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Women are seen as "pushy" and "demanding" whereas a man doing the same thing is "assertive".

      I would be interested to see a study that shows this, they may be making the same point but it is highly unlikely that they are doing it in the same way. For example you can make the same point in a pushy and/or demanding way and you can make the same point in an assertive way. But admittedly I haven't seen what you are talking about so if you can link it that would be great to give some context.

    22. Re:Hmm by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Usually when somebody is sought after like that, they already have a reputation of being good at what they do.

    23. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where is this fantasy land where only qualified candidates yield multiple offers at once? If someone gives me a decent offer I give my recruiters the 11th hour warning. Most companies can't move fast enough to interview and hire you in under a week.

    24. Re:Hmm by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      The research backs up your impression, although nobody really seems to like to talk about it. In simulated hiring situations men are sexist, awarding men somewhat higher salaries or judging them better for the job. Women are more sexist, favouring men over women by a greater margin.

    25. Re:Hmm by MightyMartian · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I dunno. Sounds to me like a good way to weed out sociopaths.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    26. Re:Hmm by William+Baric · · Score: 0

      The difference is his "excuse" makes sense, while yours is just a sign of stupidity.

    27. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 2

      "I think that in the end they might make it harder for themselves to recruit talent."

      Yes, you're rationale is quite convincing. But don't fool yourself thinking this haven't been already thought of by them. Two possible outcomes I see:

      1) They plan on reaching non-poaching/salary rates' collusion agreements with their competitors (not as if it was the first time).

      2) For the ones they really like, they won't negotiate, but they'll throw "clues":
      -I won't negotiate but, of course, before I make you an offer you please tell me what would you accept
      -Let's see... 150K
      -OK. Now, as per my company policies I'll "come up with an offer that we think is fair". Please remember this is our one and only offer: 150K.

    28. Re:Hmm by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2

      it makes as much sense as assuming tall people will be bad shoe salesmen because theyre too far from the ground.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    29. Re:Hmm by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I personally haven't tried to bargain for more, but I'm still rather fresh out of college so I've been rather satisfied with the offers I've received.

      Pro tip: never accept the first offer......companies can always offer more. Even if it's just $1k.....a thousand dollars is worth more to you than to a large corporation.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    30. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "The less successful ones had more of a concept of forcing a new paradigm on the workplace, with a sort of 40 hours only outlook, no lost vacation, sick leave balance of 0."

      Oh! but, but... what a f* bastards! 40 hours/week, and stay by the hiring contract they signed... how they dared!!!???

      What will come next? Abolishing slavery!!!???

    31. Re:Hmm by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1, Troll

      Perhaps—just perhaps—the women who do attempt to negotiate are, statistically speaking, more pushy and demanding.

      Except being "pushy" and being "assertive" are the same thing. The only difference is the gender of the person doing it. If a man sticks up for himself, he is respected. If a woman sticks up for herself, she's a bitch.

    32. Re:Hmm by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      Are you dishonest or just really, really bad at logic?

    33. Re:Hmm by russotto · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except being "pushy" and being "assertive" are the same thing. The only difference is the gender of the person doing it. If a man sticks up for himself, he is respected. If a woman sticks up for herself, she's a bitch.

      So you say. I say that doing the things that would get a woman called "pushy" are typically things that would get a man called "pushy", and doing things that get a woman called "bitchy" would generally get a man called an "jerk" or an "asshole".

    34. Re: Hmm by Hussman32 · · Score: 2

      Many people that have a job already are seeking another one. Those are the ones you hire; not those that are unemployed. However, there are fresh recruits coming out of school that often have more than one offer...it's like that for the very good talent in the SF Bay Area. I know this for certain because my wife works in recruiting in a Valley company...everyone is competing with Google.

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    35. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      "The less successful ones had more of a concept of forcing a new paradigm on the workplace, with a sort of 40 hours only outlook, no lost vacation, sick leave balance of 0."

      Oh! but, but... what a f* bastards! 40 hours/week, and stay by the hiring contract they signed... how they dared!!!???

      What will come next? Abolishing slavery!!!???

      Not a professional, eh? Especially in STEM, you some times have to stay until the job is done. And some times you travel. And some timese the experiments aren't over in 8 hours with an hour break for lunch plus 2 15 minute breaks at 10 and 3 O'clock.

      And horrors, we were all interested in getting the job done.

      So that can be a real issue if an employee wants to adopt a 40 hours only outlook. But especially an issue for them, because we were usually enjoying ourselves and our team and focused on getting the job done.

      That may or may not be a reason that some women stay away from STEM.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    36. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "you some times have to stay until the job is done. And some times you travel. And some timese the experiments aren't over in 8 hours with an hour break for lunch plus 2 15 minute breaks at 10 and 3 O'clock."

      Of course yes. But a year is quite long. And I know that more times than not, the "sometimes you need to stay late, sometimes the project timeline is really that short" means "averaged 55 hours/week last year and lost 4 days of paid vacation".

    37. Re:Hmm by Daemonik · · Score: 2, Informative

      A reputation is not proof. There are more than a few "great" men who've gotten by on their reputation for past deeds while they talk impressionable young devotees into doing the bulk of the actual work for them, which they then take credit for.

    38. Re:Hmm by PitneFor · · Score: 0

      Penalising better negotiators is hardly a good thing regardless if it's trying to promote equality. Really all they're doing is saving money.

      Zero supporting evidence. very believable man. good job. If they end up low balling salaries then they'll either have to accept the trash the attract or get good at firing the trash they hired and raise their salaries. also, i dont think their is a correlation in someones negotiating abilities and their skill at what they do. unless their job happens to relate to negotiating

    39. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      "you some times have to stay until the job is done. And some times you travel. And some timese the experiments aren't over in 8 hours with an hour break for lunch plus 2 15 minute breaks at 10 and 3 O'clock."

      Of course yes. But a year is quite long. And I know that more times than not, the "sometimes you need to stay late, sometimes the project timeline is really that short" means "averaged 55 hours/week last year and lost 4 days of paid vacation".

      Sorry, it wan't an issue with me. Did it for 33 years. I was very well compensated, and was the person left when there were downturns. The people who were smarter than me, and "won't let those bastards take advantage of ME!" got to go to another place as needed. It isn't for the rigid, that's for sure, and if having to stay late is being taken advantage of, then might not ba a good job for a person.

      Speaking of vacay, I retired 10 years early on my terms and now have 28 to 31 days of vacation per month. Sucks man, the advantage they took of me.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    40. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or perhaps, just perhaps, men are naturally more assertive and better at negotiating than women. Thus why so many men feel comfortable doing it.

    41. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pro tip: never accept the first offer......companies can always offer more.

      Yes, I have to second this. I made a habit of haggling, even if it was just for fun to see if there is anything in it. Most of the time it's either a signon bonus, a few extra shares or just the rounding of base compensation ("why pay $99000? $100k is much easier to remember"). In fact, I'm quite sure that the company I'm currently with knew this was going to happen (I report to someone I worked with in other companies) and purposely made the initial offer a bit lower. And yes, that's why I'm posting AC :)

    42. Re:Hmm by lucm · · Score: 1

      Is Pao saying that women are inferior negotiators? Sound s sexist to me.

      It's ok when *she* says it. But there's public outcry when Satya Nadella says basically the same thing.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    43. Re:Hmm by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

      Not offering more money is not penalizing.

    44. Re:Hmm by jhol13 · · Score: 1

      They only want "this" person for the top positions (board, ceo, etc), and they they give such a huge offer that there is no need to negotiate. Or if there is, they just make a new, bigger one.

      Honestly, recruiting talent is not difficult, finding talent is. Sticking to "this person" is stupid, nobody is irreplaceable, at least not after "being hit by a bus".

    45. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or perhaps, just perhaps, men have an unconscious (and sometimes not so unconscious) bias to be offended by assertive women.

      Yes, perhaps that is it or perhaps just part of it or perhaps not a factor at all, but it could be a lot of things and there are certainly a lot more factors than just one single element involved. Removing negotiations on the basis that women are not good at it is pointless and doesn't actually solve the problem, now the responsibility for pay falls to whoever makes the offer so if they are concerned about the ability of the negotiator to remain impartial why are they not concerned about the person responsible for making the offer remaining impartial?

    46. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's insanely stupid.

    47. Re:Hmm by rahvin112 · · Score: 0

      And how would you feel if you found out your wife was being paid 12% less than the male colleagues that do the exact same job as her and some of those being paid more are not as good of workers?

      That's what women face in most workplaces, doing the same work and even being better but being paid less.

    48. Re:Hmm by vigmeister · · Score: 1

      I think that in the end they might make it harder for themselves to recruit talent.

      Or easier, now that the initial offer is also their best offer, rather than a low-ball. This may also encourage more resume submissions from people that don't like to haggle.

      If they make the 'best offer' and the pay gap still exists, M. Pao will go nuts. Therefore, this is unlikely to happen. This means either:
      - Women get offered more pay than they would be willing to work for (poor business decision)
      - They refuse to negotiate and try to save some cash and 'agressive negotiators' take up offers elsewhere

      The second scenario is likelier which means e go from "Lower pay for equal work" to "Equal pay for better work" for women. This cannot be proven, so everyone's happy with this compromise (except the reddit shareholders)

      --
      Atheist: Buddhist in a Prius
    49. Re:Hmm by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      you don't haggle on the price of bananas or even the price of a dvd player

      but if you don't haggle on the price of a car, a house, or your job, you're just an idiot leaving cash on the table

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    50. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The thing is, if you go to a company where everyone works 60 hours a week and you want to work 40, you are fucking everyone else in your team.

      I believe you should know how much work is expected of you. And is ok to do 40 hours, 20 or even 0. As long as you are not working less than everyone else and you are not creating a toxic work environment.

      Incidentally, in a lot of high flying professions where the work is actually enjoyable, working 40 hours is too little and you will want to work more anyway (pay is usually flat, but you do it for the knowledge and the thrills).

      So yeah, if you want to work 40 hours a week, go for it. But don't be an ass about it.

    51. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am a woman. And I say fuck this socialism fronting CEO feminist bitch. Women and Men can negotiate just fine and on equal footing without her help. It's survival of the fittest and I want that shit and am willing to talk the talk and work for it. I'd leave her silly ass company if she whitewashed and diminished and spread my efforts at excellence into the crowd. NO! I worked for that shit, I earned it, I get it. Go practice socialism in your philantropist ventures. All of which are enabled by well paid workers like me.

    52. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      And how would you feel if you found out your wife was being paid 12% less than the male colleagues that do the exact same job as her and some of those being paid more are not as good of workers?

      That's what women face in most workplaces, doing the same work and even being better but being paid less.

      I dunno. She was paid more than anyone else there, probably due to her competence.

      Oh by the way, that was more than the guys too.

      Her boss was a man by the way.

      But say hypothtically, I would suggest to her to do what I would do. Get another job lined up, then go in and meet with the boss. If there was not a favorable outcome, I would quit and take the other job.

      I know what you are going to write back.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    53. Re:Hmm by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I've never negotiated. I have no idea how. I get an offer and take it or leave it. Is there any other choice? The only time I turned down an offer because I had a second one they made no attempt to woo me back even though they claimed to be disappointed that I turned them down. I just don't have that ruthlessness skill I guess.

      The only time I did this wasn't really a negotiation. It was with the recruiter (a bad one) when I said I could not afford to relocate to silicon valley at my current salary, and he seemed to think that I was creating an extra hardship for him.

      I think the no negotiation is fine. Why should someone with less qualifications make more than me just by having a huge ego and demanding more money?

    54. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an idiot.

    55. Re:Hmm by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      BINGO! And I see I'm not the only one suspicious of her bizarre excuse for refusing to negotiate.

      I'm of divided mind. I think she might actually be sincere but misguided. It seems like it must be one of the two. I think that we can agree that either way, it won't result in overall advantage for the employees, women or not.

      I wonder if she will also propose that from now on, all employees will get the same raises.

    56. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you think someone is unemployed because they aren't top talent then you are mistaken.

    57. Re:Hmm by barc0001 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You know, when I was in my 20s and even 30s I thought the same way you did. Looking back on it I realize there were a lot of tech companies that got a lot of free work that was left on the table from me and my peers because of those attitudes. Sure, staying late a couple of nights to finish something or booking time on the weekend is fine *as long as your company is also fine with giving you that time back somewhere else*. Most companies aren't, treating it as a one way street, especially in software/tech and that's not right.

      Companies love attitudes like yours because it helps weed out the people who won't be taken advantage of.

    58. Re:Hmm by visualight · · Score: 1

      Rigged studies are rigged. I am, and I expect most intelligent people are, perfectly capable of differentiating between pushy and assertive behaviors.
      Really really really fucking tired of this top-down social engineering that's going on everywhere these days. The lies and propaganda supporting this cultural enforcement is constantly being debunked and yet the SJW's just keep going with it. And the really frustrating part is seeing that the academics and politicians propagating these myths aren't even altruistic themselves --they are just cynically furthering their own careers. This has become the age of the professional SJW.

      --
      Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
    59. Re:Hmm by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Hey, if male CEOs are allowed to make whatever policies they want, then why can't women CEOs do the same thing? If you don't like it then don't apply for the job.

      Giving the same opportunities is NOT equality! Giving the same opportunities means that those in power stay in power. We freed the slaves in the US but there was not sudden equality despite people saying "you're free now, take advantage of those opportunities", it took another 100 years of oppression before the laws got around to *start* to correct things. A real equality of opportunities means similar levels of education from comparable schools, comparable economic backgrounds, and so forth.

    60. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope. Men are simply expected to do such things, they're seen as pushy and demanding as well. Indeed, it has been so expected that companies tend to lower their listed starting wages just for that purpose. Which is why if Reddit does not also equalize their starting wages with whatever their previous hires have negotiated, they will be low-balling their employees and come across as lying just to save a few bucks.

    61. Re: Hmm by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      True, I only once had 2 offers at the same time. Normally you get an offer and you have a deadline to accept, either explicitly stated in the offer or else it's assumed (coming back a month or two later is too late). I have gotten call for interviews a few days before starting a job I've already accepted, and even a month after starting I've gotten a call for an interview... Companies don't work at the same rate and they don't sync up with your hiring plans.

    62. Re:Hmm by Headw1nd · · Score: 1

      If you assume accidentally hiring great numbers of sociopaths were a big issue facing the company, I suppose you would be correct. However my guess is that wasn't a big issue, and any gains noticed in that department will be offset by the future difficulties in hiring experienced and talented workers who know their value. Then again it is Reddit, so I can't imagine what they would need them for anyways.

    63. Re:Hmm by Headw1nd · · Score: 1

      This seems accurate. In my own personal experience, I've never actually negotiated after a formal offer, but prior to the offer there was a period of mutual discussion that generated the number on that offer. I wonder if in practice this is what they are talking about.

    64. Re:Hmm by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Hey, I've got no problem working 55 hours a week if that was the understanding under which I negotiated my salary. Where the problem arises is when I negotiated the salary in good faith for a 40-hour workweek, and the boss wants an extra 30% for free. I'd be dumped in a hot second if I was caught grossly overstating my background on my resume, but an unfortunate number of businesses seem to see nothing wrong in being similarly deceptive in their own representation.

      There's also a tendency to create a toxic environment that pressures people into giving an ever-greater amount of their life's energy to a job to avoid being "the one who didn't make the cut". At 55h/week, and assuming you're getting your average 8-hours of sleep per night to avoid developing mental and physical health problems, you're spending more time at work than all other waking activity combined. If you truly love your job maybe that's fine, but for most people I find the idea deeply sickening.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    65. Re:Hmm by Totenglocke · · Score: 1

      So if they're willing to sell themselves short and work for less (when they have just as much access to information about average salary for the field / region), how is that men's fault? Maybe when they got the offer, the economy wasn't good and they were desperate and didn't negotiate - that's just basic labor economics, not sexism. I've worked jobs where I knew that I was being paid less than average for my qualifications, but I also knew that the economy at the time was shit and I had no other offers. However, when conditions are better (such as when I obtained my current job) and I have a decent paying job already, then yes - I will push it further because worst case scenario is that I keep working at the existing job and keep searching, best case scenario I get a much bigger raise than I was expecting. Sometimes you take that gamble and lose, other times it pays out in a 25% pay increase. Just because women in general are less willing to take that sort of risk doesn't mean that men are "evil" or should be punished.

      --
      "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
    66. Re:Hmm by bjwest · · Score: 1

      A reputation is not proof. There are more than a few "great" men who've gotten by on their reputation for past deeds while they talk impressionable young devotees into doing the bulk of the actual work for them, which they then take credit for.

      Isn't that pretty much what management does? A good manager will take the credit for the work his team does then hand out credit within the team in for form of evaluations. If said manager is taking personal credit for the work of the team, or any member, or said "manager" isn't the manager and just taking credit for the work of others on his team, then, yeah, that dude needs to be booted out the door.

      --

      --- Keep the choice with the user..
    67. Re:Hmm by Totenglocke · · Score: 2

      Except they're not the same thing. They may be the same general concept with the same objective, but being pushy lacks any tact or politeness. There's a huge difference between person A saying something like "Your competitor is offering me $5k more a year, but I feel this company is a better fit...is there any way you can match that?" or person B saying "I refuse to work for anything less than $X!".

      --
      "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
    68. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 0

      "Sorry, it wan't an issue with me. Did it for 33 years. I was very well compensated, and was the person left when there were downturns. The people who were smarter than me, and "won't let those bastards take advantage of ME!" got to go to another place as needed."

      Yes, sure. And St. Clare also thought Uncle Tom was a good slave.

    69. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "The thing is, if you go to a company where everyone works 60 hours a week and you want to work 40, you are fucking everyone else in your team."

      I have no problems, in principle, to sign for a 60 hour/week under a fair agreement both parties are comfortable with. And under such a fair agreement, I don't give a damn about how much the rest of my team works nor I think I should.

      But the thing is, if you go to a company that hires for a 40 hour/week but where everyone works 60 hours a week, not such an uncommon scenario, it is the company the one fucking all of them, not the one that wants to stay by the letter of the contract that both the company and him have agreed upon and signed.

      It is curious -and sad, how we the minions get to accept the master's rationale and make it ours.

    70. Re:Hmm by Magnus+Pym · · Score: 1

      This may be true in the third world, but is absolutely not the case in the west and an absurd proposition in the United States. Have you ever had to associate with teenage girls in the US? A more aggressive, foul-mouthed, in-for-the-money attitude is hard to find even in the most hard-charging of CEOs. Utterly casual attitude to sex, language that would make a sailor blush. And we are talking upper middle class. These are the ones who get jobs in their twenties and suddenly turn into 1800-style wilting violets, claiming `harassment' because a colleague made a dick joke. I think the whole `oh women are dainty, easily discouraged special snowflakes' meme is just a facade that the female sex adopts for competitive advantage. After all, sex & guilt are the two tools women have used to gain power in society for tens of thousands of years.

    71. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or easier, now that the initial offer is also their best offer, rather than a low-ball

      It won't be the best offer or the low-ball. It'll end up being the "we hired 10 no-talent-ass-clowns at $X for a similar position" offer.

      Eh? What's that? You've got an offer from our competitor for $5,000 more? Get the fuck out of here we don't negotiate with CHAUVINIST PIGS.

    72. Re:Hmm by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1, Informative

      Thanks to sex reassignment surgery, we now have some input from people who have literally been on either side. And guess what? Their evidence supports the obvious interpretation of the stats that we have: they really get treated differently doing the same exact thing when they switch their sex. The "pushy" vs "assertive" behavior is one repeatedly reoccurring example that they bring up.

    73. Re:Hmm by Frobnicator · · Score: 2

      No, it will continue.

      Instead of negotiating for salary, it becomes a negotiation for pay grade.

      "You are offering a job on pay grade #37, but I assure you, my background and history mean I should be on #43."

      Same negotiation rules apply, just a different name for the salary.

      --
      //TODO: Think of witty sig statement
    74. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right, I fart and piss all over the floors at work. I just stand up at my desk when I have to go, unzip and BLAM I go right there.

      Because my bathroom etiquette does not equate to job performance, unless your job is being a professional bathroom-tester.

      So glad I can trust your sound logical skills.....

    75. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How will you weed out sociopaths, when a sociopath is at the helm? Ellen Pao was dismissed for being an incompetent dick, she invented a harassment case and lost it, and where she is she was hired not because of exceptional abilities, but on the premise that she was treated unfairly, which she wasn't.

      In other words, currently Reddit has at its top a less than competent, lying and vindictive executive hell-bent to stick it to "the men" purely on ideology grounds.

      That ought to end well, about as well as the Soviet Union or the Bush term did.

    76. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, there are two problems. (1) Women are socialized to not negotiate. And, much more importantly, (2) the people the women are negotiating with are sexist (unconsciously or not) and will tend reject attempts to negotiate from women.

      Ironically its the high-profile activists like Ms Pao, Ms Horvath, et al, who are lowering the real demand for women in the workplace. As a man I'm now more valuable to business because I'm not going to sleep with a coworker and then throw a hissy fit when I realise that some other employee makes more than me.

      The more women there are who make the news about how damaging they are to a company, the more I can charge for my time. So please, Ms Pao, Horvath, et al, continue... as you were; you are increasing the demand for me.

    77. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Yep. I will bet good coin, that the average salary as a whole goes down over this."

      Don't worry, I'm sure the average quality of worker Ellen has will go down with it as skilled workers leave the company for other companies that are willing to pay for the talent.

    78. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sexist piece of shit.

    79. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pao is very much allowed to set the policies she thinks are helpful. That doesn't mean these should not be discussed, or that she must not be criticized for them. Remember Carly?

    80. Re:Hmm by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      why do you think a better negotiator is a better quality employee? the two qualities do not always equate. being a good negotiator does not mean you are good technically.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    81. Re:Hmm by aevan · · Score: 1

      So what you're making excuses for is 'women are inferior negotiators', 'because reasons'.

    82. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it depends on who is doing the interviewing. My experience is that women mostly would rather hire a man (regardless of looks) and men would rather hire a woman (regardless of looks). Of course it does depend somewhat on what the exact job is, and the personalities of the interviewer and interviewee.

    83. Re:Hmm by sa1lnr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "(1) Women are socialized to not negotiate"

      Having been married for 28 years I can tell you that this statement is utter nonsense.

    84. Re:Hmm by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but Reddit doesn't strike me as the sort of place with pay bands in that sense. I suppose they could fabricate a new title, and suggest it makes more money, but you can only go so far with that.

      Of course, I can see managers trying that, but I presume that her directive would mean that any alteration of the offer, other than the equity alterations suggested, would be rejected at HR. As a manager, you have to have your opening approved, including title, before you can even interview people. HR also drafts the offer letter and approves the terms. Negotiations can cause the title or the pay to change, but I'm guessing that unless she's not sincere about this, she's not permitting title changes with different compensation after the offer.

      Here's the thing. I probably make more than some people due to negotiations, but I probably make less than others based on the same. Honestly, unless I am truly getting screwed, as long as my needs are met, I don't care if someone makes more than I do. There are also some people out there who have families or child support payments or a sick mother or something who would benefit from the extra money and lobbied to get it.

      A woman needs to do only do one thing. After researching the salary she feels is fair for the position, she decides if she is comfortable with it or not. If she is, then stick to that number come hell or high water. She's not in a competition to figure out who makes more than her, she should be just trying to live her life successfully. If she wants a Mercedes to drive around in and she needs X amount to get it, then she needs to ask for X.

      While I understand that it seems unfair that women may make less because they don't negotiate, negotiation is nothing more than knowing your real number and being willing to walk away if they can't give it to you. You can point blank tell someone your actual number and tell them that if they can make it, you will start. If they can't, then this is her first, best, and final offer. If an adult woman can't figure that number out for herself and stick to it, then no "no negotiation" policy is ever going to help her.

    85. Re:Hmm by tnk1 · · Score: 2

      Then someone failed to properly screen the candidate for the job to begin with. You need to figure that sort of thing out before the offer, not during.

      As I told someone who I was negotiating with on a salary once:

      "When I walk in that door, I work for you and this company, but right now, I am here on my own behalf and I need to look out for myself and my family."

      Just because you negotiate doesn't mean you're a team-killing egomaniac. You're looking out for yourself and yours, which no one is going to do for you but yourself. When you do join the team, then you also look out for the company and the team. I don't think that's an unfair position to take. If you're going to be the best team player, you don't want to walk in that door every day feeling like you got a raw deal or it will affect you and your work.

    86. Re:Hmm by horm · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're assuming the women are negotiating with men, which reveals your own prejudice.

    87. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This!

      I hate haggling - it's tense and stressful and makes me feel dirty. If the offer isn't good enough, I tend to move on. I'm a contractor and I move job every couple of years, and I do lots of job interviews, and generally I know the rate when I go in. If they aren't offering enough, I just don't apply.

      Amongst tech people, how many are keen on haggling? I think it's the sort of confrontational situation that we actually particularly dislike - my opinion - so I think this is a great move. If their quality goes down, or they aren't getting applicants, then they'll notice and increase their baseline.

    88. Re:Hmm by cas2000 · · Score: 1

      The thing is, if you go to a company where everyone works 60 hours a week and you want to work 40, you are fucking everyone else in your team.

      no, you are refusing to be fucked along with everyone else.

      if you're expected to routinely work 60+ hours then you should be paid for 60+ hours, not 40. note that that implies a 50+% pay increase over the standard 40-ish hour week.

      in several jobs i've had over the last decade or so, i've negotiated a three or four day working week because the reduced money is adequate for my needs and I enjoy the extra time for my personal life and pursuits. As a result, I've noticed that one of the nicest things about working less than a full-time job is that when the employer asks you to work extra because some project or job really needs it, they always offer money or time-in-lieu to compensate. they typically don't bother doing that if you're working full-time, they just assume that they can demand more time from you without compensation or even reciprocity.

    89. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see you know women. They do not negotiate. They require. All married man may testify, we unfortunately are on /. and everybody is living in his mom basement.

    90. Re:Hmm by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      Penalising better negotiators is hardly a good thing regardless if it's trying to promote equality. Really all they're doing is saving money.

      I wonder if this rule will apply to recruiting contract negotiators and purchasers. If so they won't get the best.

    91. Re:Hmm by Urkki · · Score: 2

      Penalising better negotiators is hardly a good thing regardless if it's trying to promote equality. Really all they're doing is saving money.

      Unless being able to negotiate benefits for themselves at the expense of others (there's usually a fixed amount of money for raises etc) improves quality of their work, I don't see why being a better salary negotiator is reason to have higher salary. On the contrary, a good negotiator is likely to be able to push their inferior solutions through over better solutions from less good negotiators. Also if it leads to poorer salary (as well as envy) and therefore higher attrition rate for people whose skills lie elsewhere, it can be very damaging. Salary should be based on employee value to the company, and negotiation skills should be a factor only if they actually increase that value.

    92. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Showing the Facebook Apple Google non compete cartel how to keep salaries down.

    93. Re:Hmm by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      It also ensures that they will always get young, (near) graduates with little experience and have trouble building up a diverse team. By the time most engineers get really good they realize they don't want to work for free or do regular overtime. It's a sure fire way to get poor results.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    94. Re:Hmm by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      but if you don't haggle on the price a house you're just an idiot leaving cash on the table

      Thats not even legally possible if the house is being sold by sealed bids. And anyway, it doesn't work like that in the real world. Not everyone is a haggler, some are, some aren't. Those that aren't tend do offer it for what they want to sell it for and won't accept lower prices. Besides if you're buying in a crowded market like London, you don't get to haggle ever, because you're competing with three or four other buyers.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    95. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >> now that the initial offer is also their best offer

      If you want to play with words, then: their initial offer is also their WORST offer.

    96. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Negotiating skill does not equate to job performance, unless your job is being a negotiator.

      Great point ... except they haven't indicated that they're doing anything different in their interviews to specifically identify and drop strong negotiators.

    97. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. This.

    98. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know why this crap is so commonly repeated. You'll hire them and they'll instantly start leveraging their new resume entry to try to negotiate an even higher salary than you're paying them. Probably while on the clock btw. It's like trying to catch lightning in a bottle retaining these people because they have all the right resume jewelry to attract lazy HR managers who just want to collect a paycheck so they resort to shitty heuristics based on identifying good hob-knobbers. "Nobody ever got fired for selecting IBM" is the mentality.

      It's only because people like me are insanely productive that we get past the HR snobs and then end up carrying water for these self-promoting facebook/linkedin pimps. After several years of busting hump we spend a year unemployed and burned out while the douche-bags of the world steal the glory.

      Smug assholes.

    99. Re:Hmm by Kester1964 · · Score: 1

      It is understandable that sometimes we may be need to work more than 40 hours a week to get a job done to satisfy an import customer and that is OK.

      But my view is that if I am contracted to work 40 hours a week, then that is what I will work. If the contract says 40 hours a week and I am expected to work 45 hours a week then I would have asked for an extra 12.5% in salary when negotiating for the job, I would not want to work 40 hours a week and feel I am getting paid for 45 hours.

    100. Re:Hmm by Kester1964 · · Score: 1

      or work 45 hours a week and get paid for 40 hours.

    101. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Besides if you're buying in a crowded market like London, you don't get to haggle ever, because you're competing with three or four other buyers.

      I've heard in the Seattle housing market that if you bid the asking price on a house, you won't get the house. You have to bid over the asking price because the market is that absurd.

    102. Re:Hmm by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      Outside of sales positions, promoting better negotiators is hardly a good way to ensure that you're promoting the people with the best job skills. Most jobs don't use that particular skill set.

    103. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Women can be (and often are) sexist against women, too. See "internalized misogyny". There in fact have been studies done that both women and men offer lower salaries to women, so, you're right, there's a deeper problem to address.

    104. Re:Hmm by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Men? Go back and re-read the studies. Women are more likely to penalise women for being assertive than men (and also more likely to offer female applicants lower salaries than men for the same job).

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    105. Re:Hmm by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      Laws apply to all, rules just apply to those who want to.
      If you're good enough and they really want to have you, you'll be able to negotiate.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    106. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In most public work places, the job is advertised with the pay rate, and that's that. There is no negotiation at all. If you apply, you are already accepting the rate.

      And in my case, that is why i don't work in the public sector. The pay rate on public sector for someone like me is way to low comparing with the private sector (about 20 years ago was already in the scale of $10000 difference per year - yes i work in IT).

    107. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just ignore them. They're fresh out of college and trying to advance in the company. They'll burn out and learn why the experienced and wise employees respect work/life separation when their health starts to suffer.

      I'm 27 and I've pulled a complete 180 attitude shift on this one after only 3 years at a startup. Blood pressure, hair-loss, neurological &/or psychological symptoms. I'm not even touching on impacts to my relationships.

      It took me 11 months to recover from the stimulant abuse, and my body is still only able to put in ~20-30/week max.

    108. Re: Hmm by MenThal · · Score: 1

      ... which just means they'll be promoted to management sooner. If that means running interference and customer expectation management, that tends to be a good thing for the real techies.

    109. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More than that here in rural NY. I get half of what I would for the same title in the private sector (union trapped).

    110. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're assuming the women are negotiating with men, which reveals your own prejudice.

      Women penalize women who try to negotiate as well, so it's only your own prejudice that has been revealed.

    111. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you get payed for 40 hours and work 60 your essentially aggreeing to a 33% per hour pay cut
      why would you do that?

    112. Re:Hmm by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Pro tip 2: Always ask for more than you really are willing to accept. Just don't overdo it, or you may be seen as having unrealistic expectations.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    113. Re:Hmm by FhnuZoag · · Score: 1

      If they make the "best offer" and the pay gap disappears, then what? Will *you* go nuts?

      I also don't believe that ending negotiations would result in decreased salaries on average - it could well result in increased salaries, since the default salaries can be set to be higher because there is less need of an allowance for unexpected changes due to negotiations. From a management perspective, that increased certainty would be worth paying a little bit more. Ending haggling in retail, for example, has enabled shops to offer on average better deals than previously.

      It seems like a worthy experiment, in general.

    114. Re:Hmm by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Are you familiar with the difference between hourly and salaried employees? Professionals aren't clock watchers. There are plenty of laws on the books to cover this.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    115. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While the parent comment is assuming that the women are negotiating with men, their overall point stands. Studies have shown that women share many of the same unconscious biases towards other women that men have.

    116. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ------ Tumblr is that way.

    117. Re:Hmm by houghi · · Score: 1

      Where I worked our team was asked to do overtime. It would be payed at 150% and everybody said no. Then they said 150% free time and many said yes.

      I am paid to be at a job for a certain amount of time and if they want me to stay longer, they need to pay. If they insist I do it for free, otherwise I get fired, they better have some real good reason and an even better lawer, because I will win that battle.

      If they need it once in a while and I can get it back, I do not mind. If they need two people to do 60 hour weeks, they need to have 3 people doing 40 hour weeks, so they better pay for that and more.

      After all: I work to live. I do not live to work. (And yes, I am a commie European.)

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    118. Re:Hmm by Prof.Phreak · · Score: 1

      It also means that the quality of the folks they hire will go down quite dramatically (just about nobody I know accepts the first offer from the employer).

      --

      "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy

    119. Re:Hmm by Prof.Phreak · · Score: 1

      The employer is bound to low ball you. That's just game theory. Unless you negotiate, you lose. Lets they the average dev in their company makes $95k, they're bound to offer you $90k. Or even $95k, which is "fair" in some sense. Now, the difference between an average dev and a "pretty good" dev is not just a 10% gain in productivity... often a good dev is 10-100x as productive, and often means success or failure of the entire project. How much is that worth to the company? They'll be able to hire an average dev with their offer, but they won't ever get a pretty good dev on their team ("pretty good" dev will often ask for 4-6x the "average" salary).

      (and everyone has seen those places, with teams of 50 "average" developers unable to do anything in less than a year... and fail spectacularly a year later).

      --

      "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy

    120. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sounds like you've forgotten about the technical/domain specific interviews. If you're hiring a senior java developer(for example), you should be able to figure out if they know a damn thing about java. What's an anonymous class? Are parameters passed by value or reference? How does the GC operate? When should you force the GC to execute? How would you go about manually inspecting the string pool? What does the volatile keyword do? Design an application that responds to telnet connections and accepts commands(or some other simple application that can be reasonably designed in a few minutes).

      For people who work with Java, there are obvious 'gotchas' in even the questions I listed that can pick out someone who has written code in Java, and someone who deserves a Senior position developing Java. The questions above aren't exhaustive by any means; they would fill ~5-10 minutes of the interview. If you get an hour with the person you should be able to delve even deeper than those questions.

      So, if the person with a reputation passes your technical interviews AND negotiates well AND is incompetent, you need to assess your technical interviews. Perhaps your negotiator needs training to build some back bone as well, but it's first and foremost a problem for the technical interview, because that's the one where you measure someone's competence.

    121. Re:Hmm by green1 · · Score: 1

      That's exactly where I am in my current role. I told my hiring manager straight up that I wanted to work there, but I would not accept lower than I was already making (which was significantly above the normal starting wage for the job)
      When the offer came, it was (I'm sure entirely coincidentally) priced at exactly the figure I had quoted. I was then told that I was allowed to negotiate from there, but I was also told that any negotiations wouldn't be successful.

      Had they been offering their starting wage, there is no possible way they would have recruited anyone qualified to do the job as it was more than $10,000 below the normal pay rate for a job that was pre-requisite experience.

      Keep in mind it's a negotiation only because both sides have something the other wants. Refusing to negotiate pretty much admits that you don't care if you get the person or not. If they think they can do better elsewhere, they will, and that will be your loss.

    122. Re:Hmm by green1 · · Score: 1

      This depends, different companies work in different ways, and the labour market will also matter. In general there's always negotiating room, but you have to know when to negotiate. In the case of my current job, all the negotiation was before the offer, and it was a bit odd because the negotiation didn't really involve actual numbers from the company, just vague ranges and such, however it was clear that this was where I needed to set down what I expected, and when the offer actually arrived it was exactly the number I had expected. I was then told that I could feel free to negotiate from there, but I was also told that there's no way the negotiation would be successful.
      I got the pay I wanted, but had I waited for the offer and negotiation phase of the process I never would have, and I wouldn't have taken the job.

    123. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Really all they're doing is saving money.

      I very honestly believe this is emotional and personal. I don't think she is trying to save money.

    124. Re: Hmm by green1 · · Score: 1

      I've had 2 offers at once, and every job since then has been me shopping for a new job while still employed. In none of those situations will I work for you if you don't beat the other offer in some way (I'll be honest, that way doesn't have to be financial, the 2 offers at once incident I took the lower financial offer to get a better work place)

    125. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the people the women are negotiating with are sexist (unconsciously or not) and will tend reject attempts to negotiate from women.

      The people HR department is more often than not women. So women are sexist against themselves? I think not.

      Myth busted.

    126. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      If you truly love your job maybe that's fine, but for most people I find the idea deeply sickening.

      Let's say you work in an business that has hard deadlines. You have two people working for you in one department. One is Sue, who has an attitude that "I'll get the job done." and if she has has to stay in late fairly often, she'll do it. You know when you give a job to her, it will be finished on time and in good shap.e

      The other is Bob, who values his personal time more than his work time. Getting him to come in early or stay late is a huge fight, and he usually refuses. In order to get things finished on time, he'll often do a slipshod job, or you end up giving the job to Sue to finish. Because Bob has more important things to do, like get home in time to watch Judge Judy.

      There is a downturn in business.

      Who do you keep, and who do you let go?

      After being in the workplace for over 30 years, the problem I've seen with people who are very jealous of their time is they have a marked tendency to be lazy, and have no problem with other people taking on part of their load. They end up creating the toxic environment because their productivity is lower, and they have a choice of either working harder, or trying to drag their more productive colleagues down to their level. So they work harder at knocking off the more productive workers.

      In the end, There are those that are willing, and there are those who aren't.

      Teams built of the willing send people to the moon.

      Teams built of the non-willing know what was on Judge Judy that day. Congratulations on your choice.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    127. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or perhaps, just perhaps, there are a number of different reasons that could contribute to different outcomes for negotiations, and we all have our own pet reason that, without any evidence for it, we're convinced is the reason.

      Seriously, this is nothing but mental masturbation at this point.

    128. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Yes, sure. And St. Clare also thought Uncle Tom was a good slave.

      That's seriously bizzare thinking, although not terribly unusual.

      I guess I never looked at my employer as the enemy. But if that outlook works for you, have at it. That's the least you can do.

      Because I suspect your employer would tell me you never ever didn't do the least you could do.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    129. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many things in the business world are negotiations. Consider negotiating with vendors for the best pricing for your company or negotiating with their tech support to get them to resolve an issue. Negotiation is far more than being aggressive. Assertiveness is an asset in many jobs.

    130. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except being "pushy" and being "assertive" are the same thing. The only difference is the gender of the person doing it.

      You must get slapped by a lot of women then, when you correct them by saying "nonono, assertive is the masculine form of the word. You were being pushy."

    131. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "Are you familiar with the difference between hourly and salaried employees?"

      Yes, I know such a different exists... in USA.

      Are you familiar that "salaried" meaning "no working effort boundaries" means that the employee simply has no saying in the pay and that such a thing should be banned, banned, banned?

      Imagine you go to the market to buy, say, apples and you ask how much they cost. The attendant says "four dollars" and then you say "yeah, well, four dollars... how many apples? a dozen? a pound? a kilogram?" and the attendand replays "no, no, it doesn't work that way: you give me four dollars and then I'll decide how many apples I give you". Does it sound reasonbale? Well, that's "salaried" by USA terms. Now you can meditate about how is it possible for the situation to reach that point.

    132. Re:Hmm by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      Sealed bids is still haggling, you just only get to make the one offer instead of constantly going back an forth.

      In the case of London real estate you're still negotiating, you're just on the other side where you need to offer better terms to out compete other offers. In markets that are slower people will very often take less than the asking price because they are under various pressures to sell. A house is a very large and unweildy asset, typically when people are selling a house they are still making mortgage payments on it, so the faster they can sell it the less money they lose to mortgage interest. If the house is unoccupied the risk of it being vandalized goes up considerably, which will end up devaluing the property as well as adding costs to repair it. Houses are definitely one of the purchases that you should negotiate.

    133. Re: Hmm by Captain+Hook · · Score: 2

      customer expectation management, that tends to be a good thing for the real techies.

      Those good negotiators you are hoping will be promoted out of harms way are exactly the sort of person who tells the customer anything is possible and then leaving the small details like actually implementing the feature up to the techies.

      That's not a good thing for real techies.

      --
      These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
    134. Re:Hmm by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      The other parts of the negotiation can be for more time off, which is essentially a raise. If you hold out for 4 weeks instead of the standard 2, you are making two weeks pay more a year.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    135. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "I guess I never looked at my employer as the enemy."

      Neither did I. I see them as a business partner bound by a contract agreement we both are to respect. I don't expect more money if I single handledy decide to work more or beyond our agreement no he should expect me to work more or beyond our agreement for fixed conditions.

      "I suspect your employer would tell me you never ever didn't do the least you could do."

      Nor he should do.

      What he should say instead is "he professionally did what amount we previously agreed to, neither more nor less".

    136. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      I perfectly understand what you say and that's in fact what it usually happens buy I strongly differ in your conclusion.

      Now, imagine you work in that business that has hard deadlines. You know it, your manager knows it and the business owner knows it.

      The business owner then can decide on hiring enough staff to cope with the overload so, yes, anyone in the team (or any team) may need to work long hours even to the deathmarch level when a project so requires but then, the project finishes and the team gets to return equilibrium in the previously agreed manner (either free time or money). Being properly staffed is what ensures the work doesn't end up being a death march after another.

      OR, the business owner can say to himself "I'll pay standard and I simply fire the ones that don't agree to reduce their effective wages by 33% or even 50% by working free overtime. After all, if I know that on average I require 120 labour hours/week I can either hire three people for three salaires at 40 hours/week or two people for two salaries at 60 hours/week".

      OF COURSE, the business owner will try for the second option if he can get it, after all, who doesn't want to be serviced for free? And then, it is the people like you the ones that allow him to get out with it.

      You can claim that if that employer tried to properly staff his company he would be on a hugh disadvantage since he would be increasing his labour costs by 30 or 50% against their competitors and he'd fold but then again, is the people like you that allow that situation to happen. Of course there can be economic downturns but how convenient for the employer that he can decide to fire what he calls "the slackers" instead of negotiate, for instance, on giving part of the company ownership to the employees: "you do the extra effort now, but if we manage to go out of this, you'll be part of the future benefits too". No, what I usually see is that on the good times I get the agreed upon salary and the business owner gets his yatch (and I fully agree with that: he is risking his own money, so he or she is owed the extra benefit too) but on the downturn, he gets to retain his yatch while I am fired. Again, how convenient.

      No wonder that, as I said in a different thread, "St. Clare also thought Uncle Tom was a good slave".

    137. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "That's seriously bizzare thinking, although not terribly unusual."

      Bizarre? You are being exploited, you agree with it and don't mind this will lead for a miserable life for those that respect contracts more than you do. How is that not "Uncle Tom behaviour" at its best?

    138. Re:Hmm by scamper_22 · · Score: 1

      This is more true than you think.

      One of the big issues with feminism/gender wars is that it tries to view all issues as part of feminism/gender.

      90% of the gender wars issues I've seen in terms of employment are just regular issues that would apply to a lot of men in the field.

      The vast majority of men aren't hard driving negotiators seeking to rise to the very top to dominate the rest of men. A lot of men I work with are pretty darn cooperative, want vacation time, want time with their family...

      We had a huge development in labor laws in the 1900s. But it was aptly called... a labor movement because it had to to do with labor issues. Minimum wages, overtime, safety regulations... I'm sure the arguments at that time were the time. If someone wants to work harder for the company by working more overtime, shouldn't they be allowed to? I'm not here to say whether this is right or not. It's not the point of the post. It's simply to say that back then, labor issues were called labor issues. Heck, I'm pretty sure communism had a huge male following.

      But feminists today want to see everything as men as the enemy.
      Crap loads of men are really really really shitty negotiators. Most engineers who toil for these companies are crappy negotiators. Standing up to the domineering male/female leader and be willing to risk being a trouble maker is a hard thing when the bills need to be paid. A lot of men would love universal laws that improved their labor conditions, standard pay, more security...

      For any exploiting women think 'men' are doing to them, I guarantee you, 'men' are exploited even more. Ultimately, it has more to do with those in power, than any kind of gender issue.
      Being raised Muslim, I often use this example.
      Feminists will often say Islam is horrible to women because women could be taken as war booty (concubines/sex slaves). Men are the enemy!

      Here's what they often miss. When wars happened in the past, the women might have been taken as concubines... the men were simply slaughtered and butchered. The powerful oppressed the weak... and despite what you might think... a lot of men are pretty weak relative to the strong man.

      It's the same with pay. For every 'man' in power who pays a woman less than she 'deserves', there's an army of men being paid less than they 'deserve'.

      Ultimately, this kind feminism is really the feminism of the top 5% (not exact number). If you're good enough to be able to really substantially negotiate your salary, chances are you're probably pretty okay in life and battling for some kind of leadership position. Who should get the leadership position? I really have no idea. Sometimes in tech for example, I wish some of my leaders were more pushy alpha types who'd push back on other people. Maybe the better negotiator should win here? This is ultimately the top players playing around and some top women trying to gain power from the top men by using other tactics.

    139. Re:Hmm by mariox19 · · Score: 1

      Sometimes on television commercials, especially the kind of low budget commercials you see for local businesses, I've seen women gesticulating with very forceful, masculine hand movements in an attempt to sell something. "You know you'll get the best deal at Handsome Hal's!" And, to me, they look like fools. That's how they strike me. Stereotypical masculine gestures on a woman are an even poorer fit than they are on a man. That's my opinion, anyway. But I bet many people of both sexes share my opinion.

      Does that mean women make terrible sales people? Not at all. Does that mean that women have to coo and act coquettish to sell things? Again, not at all. They simply have to adapt their speech and body language to seem more natural. Otherwise, they seem like they're aping men.

      You can see the same thing in rock 'n' roll, though you see more of it years ago, in the '70s and '80s than you do now. Female bands and female band leaders tended to ape Led Zeppelin. But, what I can see as having happened since is that women have more successfully integrated a more naturally female persona with music—and lest you think I'm talking about the vixens and playthings, I'm not.

      So, what's my point? It's the same at the start. Perhaps many women negotiating in business are doing it poorly. Perhaps, lacking enough female role models, and the confidence that comes from role models, perhaps they're aping men and looking foolish. If anything, the idea of transexuals experiencing this after transitioning supports my opinion.

      I think what we have here is some kind of sex-based variation on the Uncanny Valley.

      --

      quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.

    140. Re:Hmm by phorm · · Score: 1

      No shit. Women like Pao really shit upon their gender as a whole. Some of the best PM's and manager's I've had have *been* women, with one of the specific skills they seem to excel at being negotiation (for resources, with vendors, with suppliers, whatever).

      Men might be a bit more "aggressive" in some lines of work, but being aggressive alone doesn't make one a good negotiator.

      Saying women can't negotiate (due to some bullshit excuse like "they're socialized not to") craps upon all women, making them sound like meek little mice in the face of the other gender.

    141. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you don't like it then don't apply for the job.

      Ah yes, the classic "you are not allowed to express an opinion on this" argument.

    142. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes but does anyone really want to work for reddit? Have they managed to make any money or have any sort of plan? Seems more like an overgrown forum to me, more in common with 4chan than anything else or perhaps usenet... or at least the only thing that I've bothered with are some of the "forums" (I refuse to call them reddits as they ARE in FACT forums) as a few times they're the only one with any traffic on niche devices...

      PC masterrace is loads of fun now too, since I've discovered it and found people with similar sentiments articulating them publicly...

    143. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, why speculate. Plenty of data on this.

      http://fortune.com/2014/08/26/performance-review-gender-bias/

      So no, what you say is basically wrong. Women are most certainly held to a different set of behaviors. They're expected to be less selfish and less aggressive because they're women, and when they step out of those bounds and act like men they are punished for it. End of story.

    144. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      No wonder that, as I said in a different thread, "St. Clare also thought Uncle Tom was a good slave".

      How odd. What I consider just being a professional and doing my job, you consider to being what some others call a "house boy."

      So tell me, are the wealthiest CEO's just house boys? And the unemployed, are they righteous warriers for personal freedom? And it's interesting, that some of the laziest people I know won't let the boss take away any of their free time.

      It isn't being a lap dog, it isn't being Uncle Tom. There is a joy in the shared labor, when you are doing something difficult with a group of like minded individuals. Something the lazy or too good to be taken advantage of will never have. I could have been like the smarter people, I made that choice, and anyone's resentment of that could easily be explained away as me making them look bad.

      I had a choice. I consider the people who were too smart to be what I call professional to be quite a bit less so. Seems their paychecks reflected that, and during business downturns, the least productive were let go.

      They won.

      So have fun, be glad you are smarter than people who think that their profession is important enough to invest the time to do a good job, and by all means, do not give any extra, that would be like crossing the beams. Never cross the beams.

      I think we've taken this one as far as we could, So if you want, you can call me some pejorative once more, and let it rest. I understand you very well, and it's clear as beer pee that you'll never understand me.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    145. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      "he professionally did what amount we previously agreed to, neither more nor less".

      I believe you 100 percent.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    146. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the upside, you do a quarter the work.

    147. Re:Hmm by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      If you assume the hiring person is a blithering moron you can produce all sorts of unlikely outcomes.

      Why does 'good an negotiating' imply 'bad at job'?

      Negotiating is just having communication skills, awareness, power and intelligence. If you are 'bad at negotiating' you lack one of those.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    148. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      STEM professional checking in. I'll pull long days to complete an experiment but then I come in late if at all that friday. If you have two people working 60 hour weeks to get the job done, then those two are suckers for not demanding a third team member. Demanding adequate resources does not exclude enjoying the work or getting the job done.

    149. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      "That's seriously bizzare thinking, although not terribly unusual."

      Bizarre? You are being exploited, you agree with it and don't mind this will lead for a miserable life for those that respect contracts more than you do. How is that not "Uncle Tom behaviour" at its best?

      Uncle Tom was a slave that got a tiny bit more by being incredibly subservient.

      Where do you get the idea that I was subservient? My job was to get things done, and a lot of people thought I was borderline aggressive. A few thought I was a maniac.

      I think you might be confusing your job with mine. There are some professions in some fields that do not always translate out to a 8 to 5 job. Those are not jobs for people who guard their personal time jealously. But they have their reward for the person who doesn't have that issue. I got to do many interesting and cutting edge things during my career, some of these, such as travel, were things that some others refused to do, (one does not merely spend 8 hours on a task when working at a remote site) I was paid well, and respected.

      Something if I recall, your "Uncle Tom" wasn't. And really, you should give that particular pejorative up, I don't recall calling you names.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    150. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except being "pushy" and being "assertive" are the same thing. The only difference is the gender of the person doing it. If a man sticks up for himself, he is respected. If a woman sticks up for herself, she's a bitch.

      You're doing it, right now.
        - Men can be pushy.
        - If you think it's possible for a woman to be pushy, you're a misogynist.

      This is Round 2 of the "ban bossy" campaign. Yes, it makes some sense, but if you're not also a little bit sceptical of it then I don't trust you to make fair decisions.

    151. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      STEM professional checking in. I'll pull long days to complete an experiment but then I come in late if at all that friday. If you have two people working 60 hour weeks to get the job done, then those two are suckers for not demanding a third team member. Demanding adequate resources does not exclude enjoying the work or getting the job done.

      A small point - If you have that situation, you'll need somewhat more than 1 extra person.

      As I discovered back in the late 80's when we hired help for me, adding a person means that for the work I was doing, which earlier, I could keep track of in my head, then do a writeup, I now had to do tracking, keeping copious notes and instructions so the other person could follow, and a lot of logging and other paperwork that wasn't needed before. Not to mention, my ability to keep track without writing things down was a singular talent. We ended up hiring two people at that time, because the job just didn't scale linearly.

      Probably a bit of a special case, I'm sure, but overall, I think certain efficiencies are lost proportionally to the number of people performing a similar task.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    152. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have no problems, in principle, to sign for a 60 hour/week under a fair agreement both parties are comfortable with

      The problem I have with it in principle is that the rule comes from a time when people were overworked while others were unemployed. That's why France has reduced it to 34 and made the rules more strict: unemployment. And since then and outside France, work week limits have only validated themselves:
        - hours worked over 40 are less productive
        - yet if someone works 40 while everyone else is working 60, their pay is scaled back worse than linearly because they will also have problems getting promoted
        - it's not supportive of family life, increasing this huge burden and life-change that people face if they want to have children, which doesn't need to be there and makes a sick, infertile society
        - it's associated with compulsive, addictive behaviours. People who do this are not just making a different trade. They're binging on work, or in the obnoxious manic phase of their bipolar cycle, or thriving on narcissistic martyrdom, or being controlling of others at the workplace.

      While these people may be functional, they should not be role models which is what they've become because of Puritan work ethic, so it's largely their idealization that we're fighting when we object to stuff like the GP.

    153. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Example:

      Man: My skills are a perfect fit for this position.

      Woman: I know my skills are a perfect fit for this position.

      Slight difference yet... one is way more arrogant than the other.

    154. Re:Hmm by Polo · · Score: 1

      First Reddit, Walmart next...

    155. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bob?

    156. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They seem to assume the candidate has nothing valid to say - if they get a higher salary it's because they snowed the interviewer, not because they deserve it.

    157. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you should not discriminate against those bitches! Give them what they want.

    158. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fact http://naijahottest.com

    159. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "(1) Women are socialized to not negotiate"

      In my household that is definitely true. My wife simply says "This is not a negotiation."

    160. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Penalising better negotiators is hardly a good thing regardless if it's trying to promote equality. Really all they're doing is saving money.

      Here's the problem with that:
      Male Employee: "Give me what I'm worth!!!"
      Employer: "That's the type of attitude we need here."

      Female Employee: "Give me what I'm worth!!"
      Employer: "Entitled f*cking c*nt."

    161. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "What I consider just being a professional and doing my job, you consider to being what some others call a "house boy.""

      I don't think "professional" means what you think it means. "Professional" means that when I pay a fair price for three nails I get three good quality nails, neither four nor two and therefore, when I get paid for three nails I give three good quality nails, neither two nor four.

      You go once and again with the strawman argument that when I say "40 hours/week" what I'm really saying is "let's see if I can get with only 30 hours/week but still being paid for the whole 40" despite me not giving the slightest hint for that to be the case.

      But this kind of game can be played both ways: I also saw my fair share of people that, having nothing else to do, were around the office their 60 hours talking left and right about how they were ready to run the extra mile and making sure their bosses knew about the long hours they devoted to their jobs. Were they productive? Hell no, but they tend to make their team mates' life miserable because no matter them being more productive in 30 hours than the others at 60, they rised management's expectation to that level. Maybe you are one of this kind of guys.

      I'll say it again: when I say "40 hours" I mean "40 full steam hours" and I give "40 full steam hours". I also do my best at work, I also take pride of a job well done, I also do what it takes for the work to be done.

      It's only that I find professionalism being *both* parties holding their side of the stick and one part of it is "you've been working 60 hours two weeks in a row for this project to hit its goal but now the project is successfully completed and you go home an extra week on paid vacation because of it" instead of "yeah, get a leave for tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow I expect you here again". Or "you stay late when it takes to stay late, so now there's no problem if you leave early because you have some personal issues to deal with" instead of "I know you stayed late 10 days this last month, but it's the second time you need to get out early, what do you think is this?", or even "Yes, on the last few projects you did the extra mile for them to be on time but I won't take this acomplishment into an unstated expectation, so I understand this time you can't do it because some personal issues of you" instead of "what? are you a team player no more? I'll remember this in the next downturn".

      In the end, it's "we both signed an agreement and I'm glad that you stick to your side of the agreement just like I stick to mine one", nothing more, nothing less.

      "be glad you are smarter than people who think that their profession is important enough to invest the time"

      I can't be glad because people like you, in the end, don't think their profession is important enough to invest the time, which is a thing I fully agree with, but that their bosses are important enough to work for them for free and in a semi-slavish way, which is something that directly hurts me because, as you say, "I'm too good to be taken advantage of" just because I want fair deals to stay fair.

      "I understand you very well, and it's clear as beer pee that you'll never understand me."

      That's what you say but maybe I understand you better than you think because I've been you for far too many years. It's only I'm not you anymore.

    162. Re:Hmm by Immerman · · Score: 1

      First off I take exception to your characterization of "40 hour employees" as lazy. I bust my ass when I'm at work, and am perfectly willing to go above and beyond in a crunch, but if there's more than a few weeks of crunch time per year then that's a symptom of an employee shortage/management failure, and I see no reason why *I* should be the one to take up the slack when I see none of the benefits.

      I agree that Sue is superficially the more desirable employee, assuming she's making the same salary (and ignoring the fact that numerous studies have shown that total productivity tends to fall when people consistently work more than about 40 hours a week - i.e. she would accomplish more per year if she worked fewer hours per week)

      If she's being paid proportionally to her contributions however, then there's no reason you couldn't hire three people to do the job of two, and avoid overworking anyone. I see the fact that that isn't the expected behavior as a marked problem that will only be solved by organized push-back from the labor pool - ideally by eliminating non-linearities in the system - if Sue contributes 50% more, she should cost the company 50% more and profit from her contribution. Otherwise management is simply exploiting her pliability.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    163. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're missing the part where there are actual studies that show that when women DO negotiate, they get penalized FOR doing so. Women are seen as "pushy" and "demanding" whereas a man doing the same thing is "assertive".

      No link to said studies = BS.

      As someone who reports on data, I can make a study show you whatever I want it to.

    164. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amongst tech people, how many are keen on haggling? I think it's the sort of confrontational situation that we actually particularly dislike - my opinion - so I think this is a great move. If their quality goes down, or they aren't getting applicants, then they'll notice and increase their baseline.

      Sometimes "Hagling" is not about a number, but about other conditions - I will give you my example:
      - how much traveling is required - for how long, what destinations (my wife will travel around the world, but declines business trips to Africa, Middle East, and long time projects in South America - figure reason ;-) )
      - work hours - I have nothing against "very odd" work hours in "exchange" for more time off when I need it
      - is "production support" part of the deal or it is separate from the salary? Not everybody has to do this, If I do, I want compensation.
      - company paid training & certificates in the interesting for both of us areas (you know this cost the same amount as in the US, but salaries are usually lower here)

      If you have small kids, or flourishing real world social life (evening pub visits etc ...) you preferences may be different from mine.
      This is haggling area.

    165. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      First off I take exception to your characterization of "40 hour employees" as lazy.

      Can you showed me where I said 40 hour a week employees were lazy?

      To refresh your memory, I wrote:

      After being in the workplace for over 30 years, the problem I've seen with people who are very jealous of their time is they have a marked tendency to be lazy,

      Any insult that you take from that is on you, not me.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    166. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh shut the fuck up. If there is compensation, working over is fine.

      But I'm not working 55 hours a week, 3 weeks a month, just to get paid 40 hours.

      It is a shiesty practice that some companies do. Bob might have a family at home that requires attention. You know, kids play sports,
      Homework, dinner, baths, etc.. while sue is single and has no life outside of work. Of course she can work those 55 hour weeks. That does not make her a better worker than Bob. All things equal.

    167. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong. The point of negotiation is communication and mutual estimation of worth. You CAN NOT DO THAT successfully without the iteration back and forth of offers. Basically Pao 1) doesn't understand basic negotiation (probably you don't either), and/or 2) she's willing to sacrifice good talent and fit for blind ideology. That latter never works out well for organization or people.

    168. Re:Hmm by Immerman · · Score: 1

      In context, that seems to be directed against those who resent/refuse to work more than they contracted for. If I am mistaken, I apologize.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    169. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, if the person with a reputation passes your technical interviews AND negotiates well AND is incompetent, you need to assess your technical interviews. Perhaps your negotiator needs training to build some back bone as well, but it's first and foremost a problem for the technical interview, because that's the one where you measure someone's competence.

      But, Sir, ... we outsourced our recruitment to external company employing social science majors.... Candidate asked for clarification - they could not provide clarification so marked this and next 5 questions as 0.

    170. Re:Hmm by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Why should someone with less qualifications make more than me just by having a huge ego and demanding more money?

      What makes you think the better negotiator has a bigger ego than you? You've spent this entire thread being smug that you are so modest that you *don't* negotiate .... that you've now convinced all readers that you are simply a small person in a large ego. Seriously - go back and read every one of your posts - you repeatedly insult people who have good negotiating skills while you make sure that we all know how modest you are by *telling* *us* *repeatedly* how modest you are.

      Dear god.... blah blah bug report blah blah

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    171. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I work at a place that "doesn't negotiate", and this is exactly what happens. There are bureaucratic hoops to jump through to raise the pay grade, but it's what we do to hire people.

    172. Re:Hmm by volmtech · · Score: 1

      Most women are satisfied with the salary they are offered, that is part of the problem. Why negotiate for more when you are satisfied. Women are easier to satisfy (with pay anyway) then men. They drag the average down.

    173. Re: Hmm by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

      I'm not saying that. Recruiters prefer to hire people that are already employed as it's perceived as lower risk...the thinking is if someone is good but not employed, is there a personality risk?

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    174. Re:Hmm by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      And even if they are locked into some rigid salary scheme, there's always other things you can negotiate on - stock options, RSUs, vacation time, etc.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    175. Re: Hmm by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      You aren't wrong - my company has been trying to hire competent DBAs and such for a bit now, and by the time HR gets off their ass and extends an offer, Google or Apple have already hired them.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    176. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *citation needed*

    177. Re:Hmm by Cederic · · Score: 1

      If they don't have another offer, are they sure they want that person?

      I took my current job without even applying anywhere else. I knew I wanted to work here, I waited until they had the right role available, I set sensible expectations around the total package, and they set sensible expectations too.

      They welcomed the fact that I'd applied directly to them, that I wasn't merely farming for a higher salary, that I knew and wanted to work there and that I could articulate the value they'd get from employing me.

      Why would a lack of alternate offers be a factor in their decision whether to offer me a job?

    178. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "the people the women are negotiating with are sexist (unconsciously or not)..."

      Isn't that prejudicial? You paint with a very wide brush there.

      Not saying there are not gender and race issues to deal with, but...

    179. Re:Hmm by Cederic · · Score: 1

      I got a massive payrise with my current job. Gross salary was mildly higher but average hours are 10 fewer a week.

      Thing is, contracted hours are 35 hours a week, and I average nearer 45. But it's a salaried role, and it pays a decent amount, and 'getting the job done' is a core element of the role. So there's no explicit demand for long hours but it's something that was managed through gentle hints and acknowledgements from both sides during interview.

      Similarly because I'm not paid by the hour, if I decide to go home at 2pm tomorrow my boss wont even notice. He doesn't care. The reality is that I wont, because I'm not even going into the office tomorrow. I'll get up, feed the cats, make some coffee, write a briefing for the COO, play with the cats, document a process, the way I'm going to optimise it and the benefits that provides then go and sit in the garden in the sun with the cats.

      No idea whether that'll be 11am or 6pm but probably somewhere in between. What matters is getting those two documents complete, and I've already negotiated the deadline on one and planned in the other to give me the flexibility and time to deliver both while it's still sunny.

    180. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think it's at all reasonable to conclude what you conclude from that article. For example it could just as be that managers more broadly fear confrontation from males if they give negative feedback, or fear they'll quit. Or it could be that women and men actually act differently in leadership roles in this particular field. Or it could be a sampling problem, or it could be a ton of other things.

      Even the article doesn't make nearly so strong a conclusion as you do:

      "I only have the data I have. I don’t know whether women were simply more willing to submit reviews that include critical language, or whether men removed language from their review documents before submitting. But the directional indication is striking and calls for further investigation by managers and HR departments. At most mid-size or large tech companies, HR leaders supervise review scores to uncover and correct patterns of systematic bias. This is a call to action to bring the same rigor to the review language itself."

      There's lots of problems, but the idea that it's just "end of story" and anyone else who suggests otherwise is wrong is ridiculous, at least according to the link you provided.

    181. Re:Hmm by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      This is crap. First of all, there really is no disparity. That's a big lie, and the politicians know it. Obama's WH dude even admitted it. Just something to divide the country over and get women upset at. Equal pay actually goes way back to a law passed in the 1930s and updated in the 1960s.

      Secondly, I've had to negotiate with women as well as men. Some men suck at negotiating, some are really good. Some women suck at negotiating, some women I think could negotiate me into almost anything. They really have a good set of cards to play.

    182. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because approaching a life partner is exactly like approaching a monolithic corporate organization. Both care about you! Right? ...

    183. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Companies love attitudes like yours because it helps weed out the people who won't be taken advantage of.

      This is one of the most bizzare conversations I've ever been in. I worked hard, and was compensated for it. Got to travel to some interesting places, I was respected, and when I opened my mouth, people listened. But in Slashdot Bizzarro world, such a basic thing is somehow being "taken advantage of". I was definitely not taken advantage of.

      I'm getting the impression that a few too many people here think you have to hate your job, hate your employer, and live in fear that you might give too much to the job.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    184. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      And under such a fair agreement, I don't give a damn about how much the rest of my team works nor I think I should.

      Wow. Mister, your attitude is plain awful. You are no team member at all.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    185. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Are you familiar with the difference between hourly and salaried employees? Professionals aren't clock watchers. There are plenty of laws on the books to cover this.

      I don't think many people in this conversation are actual professionals. Just people who are so scared they might have to work a little extra that they don't realize they are only screwing themselves.

      People who for one reason or other have been conditioned to think all the employer thinks about is how to take advantage of them.

      And this thread shows nothing less than how threatened they are by people who don't think thte way they do.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    186. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      " Mister, your attitude is plain awful."

      Do you think so? What should I do, then? Should I force the rest of the team to reach the same kind of agreement that works for me? Since I signed for a full day work I should cry because my team mate that happens to be a single mother reached an agreement for just four hours a day? Is any of my business if she happens to be paid more per hour than me?

      I *am* a team player and that includes accepting whatever laboral conditions fit to the rest of the team. As long as they own the expected expertise level and take intensity on whatever the time and timeframe they agreed with the company, I'm OK with it and I consider any more details are not my business at all but theirs.

      On the other hand, given your comments on this thread I tend to think it is *you* the one that most probably are not a team player but a know-it-all full of prejudices and a "heroical lone wrangler" that takes pride on how tough you are (while your boss is laughing all the way to the bank).

    187. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "And this thread shows nothing less than how threatened they are by people who don't think thte way they do."

      Threatened? But of course threatened, and upset.

      As it is any business that sees how its competitors offer their services for free or at least heavily underpriced. Because, in the end, that's all that you do: "hey, I offer to work 30% more for same money", disregarding the fact that reaching current more or less standard conditions required about a century of nail and teeth fight by the labour force.

      The difference is we are not companies, where that's not only expected but desired, we are persons and you disregarding your personal life and selling cheap your services damage everybody else's life conditions instead of "merely" their profit margins. And just as the expected end result of savage competition among corps is benefiting the consumers of those goods and services, not the competition, you downselling your services benefits no other than your customer, which happens to be your boss, not your fellow team mates.

    188. Re:Hmm by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing this one's the local union steward

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    189. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      " Mister, your attitude is plain awful."

      Do you think so? What should I do, then?

      I don't really give a damn, I am just thankful you were never assigned to a Team I was working on or building (you'd never get on a team I was building. You would probably fel the same, no doubt. I've read enough of your postings to realize you might be better off as a solo player.

      You are who you are, and there is a place for you somewhere.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    190. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      "And this thread shows nothing less than how threatened they are by people who don't think thte way they do."

      Threatened? But of course threatened, and upset.

      As it is any business that sees how its competitors offer their services for free or at least heavily underpriced. Because, in the end, that's all that you do: "hey, I offer to work 30% more for same money".

      Have we gotten this far into this, and you don't pay attention to what I've written - or perhaps don't think I'm telling the truth. I was paid a lot more than the others working with me much more than 30 percent. You could argue that they might have saved money by getting rid of me and hiring two people at th elower rate. Problem was that they needed someone who could get things done, done well, and on time.

      People with your attitude, one where you only give as much as whatever your contract says, were of no use. The meeting or the plane or the boat sailed at a certain time, and you'd have missed the deadline, which in my work means you did nothing. Which is why I did more critical stuff.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    191. Re:Hmm by drsquare · · Score: 1

      Except it's generally men who get to decide what 'wrong' negotiating is and that's what the problem is.

    192. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A SINGLE example of a woman able to negotiate or willing to negotiate or good at negotiation REFUTES the claim that women are bad at or socialised against negotiating.

      In exactly the same way as claiming that women are too weak to lift heavy weights is ENTIRELY REFUTED by EVEN ONE SINGLE woman weightlifter.

    193. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is just damn stupid. You signed a contract to work for 40 hours / week. If the contract doesn't include some mechanism for compensating your extra work then there is no extra work. It's not that hard to include some kind of hour balance, like you have to stay +-100 hours. If you have hours in the bank you can use them when it fits everyone, and you can NOT go over the max limit. So if they see a possible need for extra hours they can tell you to take some days off now, or what ever. It's the managements job to make sure the required work can be archieved within set resources, one of which is worker hours. Workers should not be doing work for goodwill, it totally goes against capitalism. You look like an idiot for forking for free. If your job constantly requires working extra hours it's time for renegotations. Either compensate those hours and lighten the load.

    194. Re:Hmm by Elky+Elk · · Score: 1

      In academia we called those people 'professors'.

    195. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If a man and a woman both use the same tactics for negotiation, the guy will, on average, be rewarded for it more than the woman. There is a lot of evidence that there is subconscious bias applied - guys are seen as "hard negotiators/motivated/etc" while gals are seen as "high needs/bitchy/demanding".

      Um huh - I sort of agree, but by the other women.

      I know a number of women who were successful in their fields, including my SO.

      Most of them say their biggest problem is not http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/04/08/1937227/reddit-ceo-ellen-pao-bans-salary-negotiations-to-equalize-pay-for-men-women#with men. But with other women. My wife, who can negotiate as well or better than anyone I know, BTW, has had more problems with other women who simply hate her. Oddly enough, the men she works with and those who worked for her, just love her. And since she's dealing with a number of construction guys, they are not always the most liberated. But they do what she tells them to do, no griping. The women though, are not so nice.

      And the same went for the successful female engineers I've worked with. The less successful ones had more of a concept of forcing a new paradigm on the workplace, with a sort of 40 hours only outlook, no lost vacation, sick leave balance of 0.

      Meanwhile the successful men and women were doing what they had to to get the job done, not trying to mold the workplace towards the LCD.

      Thank you for pointing out this one facet of the issue, but it's so much more complicated than petty jealousies.

      Personally, I'll be happy when folks like you die off. You eschew benefits like sick time and PTO, thinking it makes you a better person, when you're really just unable to get off your own jock. *slow clap*

    196. Re:Hmm by monkeyzoo · · Score: 1

      ...but we aren’t going to reward people who are better negotiators with more compensation.

      And in a nutshell, that is why good negotiators will no longer apply to work at Reddit and they will be left higher mediocre talent!!
      If you want to hire people who are good at business to work for your business, you have to reward them for being good at business.

    197. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reddit is a very poor site and will just get worse. Further, Pao is a sexist and needs to be shamed.

    198. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "People with your attitude, one where you *only give as much as whatever your contract says*, were of no use."

      This says it all (emphasis mine). Of course, I understand the implication is that usable people were the ones that gave more to their company's shareholders than their mutually agreed contract says they should.

      This evening I need to go to the market to replenish my fridge. Maybe I'll try your argument with the fruit seller to see what happens: "people with your attitude, one where you insist in only giving me two pounds of tomatoes when I pay for two pounds of tomatoes, are of no use".

      Can't say in advance if he will stare at me in surprise or if he will just laugh at me on the spot.

    199. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "I believe you 100 percent."

      Your bet.

    200. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "I'm guessing this one's the local union steward"

      Your guessing is wrong. Not only I'm not any kind of union representative but I've never worked on a unionized environment.

      It's sad that just wanting contracts to be respected by both involved parties and for labour conditions to be human and fair is a matter of mockery -from the party that gets the benefit no less.

    201. Re:Hmm by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      I read the stats
      It's in plain view
      If you're over 50
      No job for YOU!
      Burma Shave

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    202. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      You look like an idiot for forking for free.

      How did you know I liked Linux?

      But that aside, it's 10:00 a.m., I'm finishing up breakfast, maybe going to take a hike later today, possibly a motorcycle ride, although I have some software to work on - might put that off til tomorrow though. Maybe do a little DIablo 3 after lunch, not certain though, because it doesn't matter. I'm my own boss now - though the wife may differ on that.

      If you are that concerned about the number of hours worked, consider this:

      40 hours a week times 50 weeks = 2000 hours a year worked. (assuming 2 weeks vacation) in late June, it will be 5 years since I retired @55. That equals 10,000 hours.

      The normal retirement age is now considered to be 67 years. That's going to be 24,000 hours I haven't worked that some of my smarter compadres will still be working.

      Now of course, there might be some questions about the vacation hours, since I don't get vacation any more..

      All the extra work wasn't an issue for me, because I'm high energy and dedicated to begin with, and I was rewarded for it. So I dunno, worked out for me. You might look at it as I traded time off then, for time off now. Not everyone has the discipline to do that - it's why the world has a lot of Rent-a-centers and paycheck and car title loans.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    203. Re:Hmm by samwichse · · Score: 1

      Lewis' Law strikes again.

    204. Re:Hmm by samwichse · · Score: 1

      You treat your marriage as a job... ?

      There's a big difference in negotiations in your personal and professional life.

    205. Re:Hmm by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

      I read the stats
      It's in plain view
      If you're over 50
      No job for YOU!
      Burma Shave

      Roses are Red
      Violets are Blue
      I got mine
      There's naught but shit for you.

    206. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which is the point of the "New Left", you use socialist rhetoric to accomplish capitalist aims. Want to cut pay, put people on the streets, reduce health benefits? Do it along gender, race, sexual orientation lines, and then when you get pushback, simply accuse the other side of being fascists.

      Later you denounce your own supporters as fringe extremists, when you pitch the same message reversed to the other side.

    207. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Personally, I'll be happy when folks like you die off. You eschew benefits like sick time and PTO, thinking it makes you a better person, when you're really just unable to get off your own jock. *slow clap*

      I suspect you really don't want to know that I was paid for that sick time when I retired.

      I'm not better than anyone. I just point out there is a different way than your employer "iz outa getz ME!" attitude. And your attitude is what makes me look better. So go park yer ass in front of the TV or whatever you do that is so important, and never ever consider that you might make your own problems.

      So yer doing fine, please don't do anything extra, the go getters where you work will appreciate that.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    208. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      This evening I need to go to the market to replenish my fridge. Maybe I'll try your argument with the fruit seller to see what happens: "people with your attitude, one where you insist in only giving me two pounds of tomatoes when I pay for two pounds of tomatoes, are of no use".

      Can't say in advance if he will stare at me in surprise or if he will just laugh at me on the spot.

      I'm speechless - good thing I'm typing.

      Because while we need the entire spectrum of workers, from the trash collectors to your hypothetical fruit seller, to people doing research (my field) and those who paid me - it's a really odd comparison to try to equate the weight of fruit to how much time you put in.

      Of course if you pay for two pounds, that is what you should get. And the guy in the Supermarket should be paid for his time, and if he works more than his 40 hours, he should get time and a half. Not only a good idea, its the law.

      But at some point, and its usually a point at which specific and specialized training is needed, you are looked at in a different manner. You are supposed to get the job done. And if there are hard deadlines, they gotta be met, or else you are just wasting money, because if you didn't meet the hard deadlines, you might as well not have started.

      I think you have no concept of how the people who get involved in research think and act. Your inability does not mean that the guys and gals I'm putting in that extra time with aren't having a great time working and solving problems.

      Its what some of the people I worked with didn't get. It in no way shape or form meant they were right. Just less valuable.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    209. Re:Hmm by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      As someone who's been a salaried employee for over 30 yrs, I don't think I've ever witnessed the abuse you're claiming. Not that it doesn't happen, but then nothing is keeping those employees from leaving when it does.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    210. Re:Hmm by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "I think you have no concept of how the people who get involved in research think and act."

      And again you miss the mark. I happened to work on a (public) pure research facility (devoted to ecology) in a pure research role (mathematical ecology and complex systems analysis and modeling) in the beginning of my career so, yes, I certainly know how this kind of people think and act since I've been one of them. And before you mention it, no, I didn't went out of it because lack of vocation or ability but for lack of funding (and that's something that makes me sad even today).

      But, then again, even if, as it's the case for a vocational reseacher, you are basically an addict of what you do, the fact that you are actively searching for more doesn't mean you aren't abused, it's only that you don't mind.

      On a pure research role is more difficult to fingerpoint a boss for the abuse but on an applied field? Ah! you just need to look at the bank account of, say, Larry Ellison (Oracle's CEO) versus that of Ed Codd (considered the "father" of the modern relational database concept). Or just look at the accrued wealth of, say, Patarroyo (he developed one of the most effective malaria vaccines, with ability to save lives in the tens of thousands) versus that of your average pop star (for this comparation to be understood I imply the "boss" of both the scientist and the pop star being people at large). Hey, now that I think of it, the pop singer probably can't help but doing what he does and be happy because of that but, still, this doesn't mean he's not being abused by the record company (while a differnt and more subtle kind of abuse since here the abuse is right in the contrat, not in its violation).

      But I'm disgressing and the main point doesn't change: no matter what's your vocation, once there's a contract, *not* giving "...as much as whatever your contract says" is breach of contract, no matter if you break it by excess or by defect, and professionals do not break contracts.

    211. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for your comment. It's great to hear from women who are skeptical of these misguided ideas.

    212. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rewarding better negotiators is completely unrelated to rewarding better workers, so now why would you want to reward the talkers instead of the doers?

    213. Re:Hmm by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      This is one of the most bizzare conversations I've ever been in. I worked hard, *and was compensated for it.*

      Found the source of your confusion. The tech companies we're talking about are the ones who like to pay people for 40 hours of work and want 60-70 hours of work once you get in the door. Which is unfortunately way too many of them.

      One place I worked at when I was younger had a 3 month death march to launch a new version of the packaged product and when it was all over I did the math on the hours we all worked I realized we would have made more working at McDonalds because at least McDonalds would have been forced to pay time and a half for all the overtime.

    214. Re:Hmm by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      Ah Europe! Many places here (North America) now do equal time off for overtime. Some places here would maybe do 150% time in compensation, but paying money for overtime hours at all, let alone at 150% rate? That's the day hell freezes over.

    215. Re:Hmm by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      This is one of the most bizzare conversations I've ever been in. I worked hard, *and was compensated for it.*

      Found the source of your confusion. The tech companies we're talking about are the ones who like to pay people for 40 hours of work and want 60-70 hours of work once you get in the door. Which is unfortunately way too many of them.

      Well now, that's an entirely different story. They shouldn't demand that I have their situation. I did work for some jerks early on, and I left those jobs (was laid off from a couple also)

      Where I ended up, I was not forced to work extra. In my previous posts I noted that there were people who wouldn't work anything over 40. But I did it as needed, and it was rewarded, and I was able to have a pretty darn good career out of it.

      It made me a lot more valuable than those who insisted on an 8-5 job. And when money dried up, who goes and who stays? Now I understand that the 8-5'ers would not be happy when they got canned.

      Just pointing out that a person that jealously guards their time may get a lot more of it to guard, and am not arguing about prick or non prick employers.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  2. These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Men negotiate harder than women do"

    Let's punish people who are good at something! Diversity!

    1. Re:These days... by rudy_wayne · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Men negotiate harder than women do"

      So everyone is penalized because women are inferior to men. Nice.

      But the bigger issue is why negotiating even exists at all. Too many companies want to make the hiring process like buying a used car, offering you a low figure, hoping you'll take it, and only offering more if you "negotiate harder".

    2. Re:These days... by Yoda222 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There is no good reason to pay a good negotiator more than a bad, except if you want to hire someone for a position where you need negotiation skills.

    3. Re:These days... by Cereal+Box · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It exists because you've got two parties with two different goals. One wants to get paid as much as possible, the other wants to acquire something for as little as possible.

    4. Re:These days... by erice · · Score: 2

      It exists because you've got two parties with two different goals. One wants to get paid as much as possible, the other wants to acquire something for as little as possible.

      All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      Negotiations helps both sides find the middle ground that is acceptable in transactions where the stakes are high enough to be worth the trouble. Which side of that middle band the deal lands on depends on the skill of the negotiators. In the case of hiring, "no negotiation" means the employer needs to make a better first offer than with negotiation because there is plan B if the candidate refuses the first offer.

    5. Re:These days... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

      What if she is hiring someone to lead negotiations?

    6. Re:These days... by iluvcapra · · Score: 1

      Let's punish people who are good at something! Diversity!

      All it really does is shift the external negotiation, between company and employee, to an internal negotiation, with HR and upper management on one side (who want people cheap), and the staff and project managers (who want the best people).

      Ability to negotiate, or rather, communicate your needs in a persuasive way, is sortof a core competence, everybody who wants to be successful and progress in their career either needs to have it or at least needs to have confidence in the process.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
    7. Re:These days... by LessThanObvious · · Score: 4, Informative

      Saying men negotiate harder than women do is about the most sexist thing I've heard lately from an executive.

    8. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      That's some real idiocy you have going on there.

      There is no good reason to pay anyone more than you have to to get them to do the work you want (barring e.g. minimum wage). A bad negotiator allows you to pay them less than you would otherwise be willing. A good negotiator gets you to pay as much as you are willing.

      So of course, given roughly equal skill/desire, and if you are hiring both, you would pay a good negotiator more than a bad one. You are a fucking idiot and anything you've ever posted is now suspect because of this idiocy you are spouting.

      When hiring from one of many, you would pay the good negotiator more if his skills were worth more to you, of course.

      Your logic is so bad it literally busts _definitions of words_.

    9. Re:These days... by Anrego · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I feel like it exists for a few main reasons:

      - People have different priorities. Some are all about the money, some want the retirement contribution, some want equity, some want vacation, etc. People also proportionally value these things differently. How much do you value an extra week of vacation to say, more retirement contribution or more salary? Negotiation solves this problem.

      - As has been said, the employer and candidate have two directly opposing goals. The employer wants to pay the least they can while not feeling like you'll get a higher paying opportunity a few weeks later, and the employee wants the most money.

      - Negotiation keeps things competitive. If every company stopped allowing negotiations, it would either become a race to the bottom or the top (I'm actually not even sure which, but the cynic in me thinks bottom).

      Ultimately, I think this whole thing is stupid. I'm a guy, but I have to imagine this is patronizing as all hell to women. Isn't this the kind of shit feminists have been fighting forever?

    10. Re:These days... by Oligonicella · · Score: 2

      "All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc."

      You contradict yourself.

    11. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      But really, we do. I can tell you haven't taken a course in microeconomics.

    12. Re:These days... by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      except if you want to hire someone for a position where you need negotiation skills.

      So that's every job everywhere, right?

    13. Re:These days... by sayfawa · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Everyone's focusing on the first part of that sentence, and not the 2nd...
      Take two people who negotiate equally strongly; the one with the penis is called confident and achieving, the one with the vagina is pushy and catty.
      So too late, some people (the one's with the vaginas) are already being punished for being good at something.

      --
      Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
    14. Re:These days... by nedlohs · · Score: 0

      You just have comprehension problems.

    15. Re:These days... by tlambert · · Score: 3, Informative

      How much do you value an extra week of vacation to say, more retirement contribution or more salary?

      Vacation accrual rate and initial vacation balances are generally non-negotiable. Most of silicon valley outsources their human resources to a couple of companies, and, posing as a company interested in obtaining the services of those of both Apple and Google, and in the middle of considering options, neither company could handle an initial balance.

      The Apple one (ADC) could handle a different accrual rate, but given business rules and set-limits, they would have had to have pretended I was at Apple 5 years to give the extra week of accrual, and it would top out exactly the same point as anyone else who had been there for sufficient years to top out, as soon as I hit "sufficient - 5". In addition, there would have been sabbatical triggers, stock vesting triggers (I'd vest month-to-month, instead of a one year cliff).

      In the Google case, I delayed my start date as an "unpaid absence" to get the vacation. In the Apple case, the boss stepped in and said "just take the week; let me know when it will be ahead of time, and don't schedule it through the system, and I'll ignore it if you will" (worked until the second manager change happened).

      Payroll systems are generally set up on a "minimal business rules" basis, and are stupid hard to change.

      So no, some things are not in the bucket with everything else as "everything's negotiable".

    16. Re: These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Women are not inferior to men . But some of these liberal activist make it seem that way . The same for African Americans . In nyc they sued the city because a lower percentage of African Americans passed the firemans exam . They loaded the exam with ringers who intentionally scored low to rig the stats. .

    17. Re:These days... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      You contradict yourself.

      Maybe they steal all their toothpaste and gas.

    18. Re: These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ones who are able to negotiate a good deal are those who have the talent to back up thier demands and already have a job that they are willing to stay at if they get shot down . Otherwise they would take the first offer .

    19. Re:These days... by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually most things can be negotiated for. What determines it is the relative price. If it's 5 bucks, they aren't likely to negotiate because they have very little profit margin.

      If it's $100K, there's going to be multiple 1000s in wiggle room.

      But mostly, you list examples of buying 'goods' and not services. Services are inherently more negotiable since it's time vs money instead of stuff vs money. (basically the same as above)

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    20. Re: These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once again women want flexibility other than money . Negotiating the ability to come in late to drop child at daycare etc . My mother took off 5 years when I was a child due to inflexibility of her boss . When she went back to work she took a lesser position with more flexibility . When she finally went back to work full thrust once all her children were teenagers, she made less than male colleagues that did not take time off. That is a personal choice . Many times the women who make these inequality claims are feminists many who are anti men lesbians

    21. Re: These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So do you buy your toothpaste at a grocery store possibly with coupons, or at a convenience store where the price is higher? If you have a choice if a gas station at 2.54 or one across the corner at 2.53, which one do you end up driving too?

      Whenever you have a choice, she beat outcome is highest value at the lowest cost.

    22. Re:These days... by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 2

      It's old news but in PA they ruled setting auto insurance rates by gender wasn't 'fair' so PA made starting insurance rates the same for everybody.

      linky

      End result? Women's rates when up and men's went down...totally what they were going for I'm sure

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    23. Re:These days... by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      maybe its not about men vs women. that's a red herring.

      in the bay area, at least, job salary negotiations exist mostly for non H1B's. H1B's will take what they can get and be thankful for that.

      US born and raised folks have had more options and they won't be manipulated (as much) as foreign workers let themselves be.

      which do you think companies want more of? those that can walk and go elsewhere vs those that are indentured?

      the same for salaries. those who are indentured won't be able to negotiate salaries. those few of us who are left, 'need' to be stripped of that right, too (according to her).

      this is CEO vs common man, not man vs woman.

      war on the middle class, just with a distraction tactic added.

      same old, same old (sigh) ;(

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    24. Re:These days... by s0nicfreak · · Score: 4, Informative

      All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      That's because nowadays, we (in first world countries) rarely interact with anyone that has the power to charge a different price for toothpaste and gas.
      Back when the store/station workers were also the store/station owners, we did negotiate for toothpaste and gas. And this negotiation can still be seen in less "developed" countries where the person doing the selling is the person that sets the price of the items.

    25. Re:These days... by Baloroth · · Score: 1

      Everyone's focusing on the first part of that sentence, and not the 2nd... Take two people who negotiate equally strongly; the one with the penis is called confident and achieving, the one with the vagina is pushy and catty. So too late, some people (the one's with the vaginas) are already being punished for being good at something.

      Then the problem is that attitude, not the negotiation. Removing the negotiation just allows the attitude to continue unnoticed. In other words, it treats the symptoms, not the disease. This may (or may not) be advantageous for women in the short term, but it'll hurt them in the long run: both the individuals, because now they're working for a (at least somewhat) sexist boss, and how much do you think they're gonna get when it comes time for a raise? And for women in general, as sexism persists in the manager culture.

      Her proposal is sexist and will probably be bad for both sexes. Good for the short-term bottom line for Reddit, though, since salaries will be lower! Which I suspect may be her actual goal (gotta boost those profits).

      --
      "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
    26. Re:These days... by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 2

      But the bigger issue is why negotiating even exists at all. Too many companies want to make the hiring process like buying a used car

      Heaven forbid you actually consider your labor a valuable, scarce resource and negotiate over it!

      Apparently, you want to be treated like a disposable, interchangeable, mass-produced product instead. Well, suit yourself.

    27. Re:These days... by mariox19 · · Score: 2

      All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      You're absolutely right. We don't negotiate for mass produced, fungible goods, sold retail. What does that have to do with the job market?

      --

      quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.

    28. Re:These days... by Altrag · · Score: 1

      And even then you don't have to go too far up the price ladder before negotiations becomes plausible.. most electronics retailers, furniture stores, etc, grant their employees the power to reduce prices up to a certain percentage.

      We're talking about things worth only a few hundred to few thousand dollars. A lot more than a tube of toothpaste to be sure but its well within the realm of things that your average middle and even high end of the lower income groups will get to deal with a few times in their lives.

    29. Re:These days... by Altrag · · Score: 1

      I don't know that this is the kind of thing feminists have been fighting. Certainly the logic behind it is horribly patronizing but at the end of the day it does end up with an equality of sorts.

      Of course, this is going about it in completely the wrong direction. Its treating a symptom rather than a cause. Why does she consider women to be worse negotiators? Does she have research to back that up? If so, then why are we not looking at ways to teach women how to improve their negotiating skills rather than just ignoring those skills completely?

      Alternatively, is it more of a situation where women don't necessarily negotiate worse but differently? If so, maybe training your HR to recognize and adapt to that is the better course of action.

      Hopefully this turns out to be a "better than doing nothing" scenario even if its not exactly a particularly brilliant move.

    30. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Typical liberal mamby-pamby view.

      In all position you have to be a negotiator. You need to sell yourself so you can sell your ideas. As a design engineer I am constantly trying to influence the design, people to go with my ideas/approaches to problems, and many, many other areas where I need to get people to buy-in to my ideas when other ideas are inferior. That's part of being a good project leader.

      But this is a non-issue for me. If I encounter this liberal BS I know that the company is crap and I will simply reject the offer. They lose.

    31. Re:These days... by aaron4801 · · Score: 1

      "Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc."
      You can buy different brands at different prices based on the qualities you prefer. If all employees were interchangeable, there wouldn't be any negotiations, either.
      A personal anecdote: I did negotiate my salary when I started my current job. It was basically an entry-level position, but I got a little more. This after a relevant degree and some previous experience. A few months later, some salary data leaked and some people on my team found out I was making more than they did. So they made a stink and got a raise. No prior experience and no relevant education. That devalues ME and my unique contributions.

    32. Re:These days... by jandrese · · Score: 1

      Next smokers are going to argue that it isn't fair that they're discriminated against for health insurance.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    33. Re:These days... by Eythian · · Score: 1

      No.

    34. Re:These days... by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a difference between being 'confident' and 'pushy,' and it has nothing to do with gender.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    35. Re:These days... by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Moreover the OP missed (as did most of the readers here) a too-subtle point made in the summary: it's not about who's better at negotiating, it's about the fact that culturally we (usually) are comfortable about men being pushy about their salary, while women tend to be treated negatively if they do the same thing. It's likely not a conscious decision on the part of those they try to negotiate with, more an unconscious reaction to a difference in expectations, but ill intentioned or otherwise it does actually happen.

      I know women I work with who are considered "difficult" by all the (male) colleagues around me, simply because they do actually try to get ahead. For the example I'm thinking of, there's literally nothing she does that isn't done by far less qualified male colleagues who end up in more senior positions. But nobody wants to work with her, because she's "pushy".

      We're rewarding people of one gender when they negotiate a salary. We're punishing people of the other when they negotiate a salary. Surely even Slashdot's current infestation of MRAs must see the problem with that.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    36. Re:These days... by MonkeyBoy · · Score: 2

      Sure we do. We negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc. all the time. I drive to a gas station that has a lower price than another gas station. Voila, I just negotiated a better price. I think the price of toothpaste is too high at the grocery store, I drive to another grocery store and find it for a cheaper price there - voila, I just negotiated a better price.

      This kind of negotiation will likely not go well for Reddit, since instead of working for Reddit, people who don't like the offer will just work for someone else. The problem is that companies aren't good at high-balling, they always low-ball, and as a result they'll end up with people who accept low balls... which are usually the less qualified individuals.

      Someone I used to work with got hired as an IT manager because they accepted the low-ball offer. The problem? They didn't know the first thing about IT. They were working as a product tester at our workplace. The most IT knowledge they had was how to turn on a system. They tried to get me to come over and basically run their shop, but I had another six months of work left until my (negotiated) severance package kicked in so hell if I was going to mess that up. He imploded their IT operations within the first year. He was a great bullshitter, but they didn't need that... they needed someone who could do the work.

      --

      Moof!

    37. Re:These days... by exomondo · · Score: 1

      All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      Because it isn't worth it, either they would rather not have your business or you would rather just pay the set price than bother negotiating for it, not to mention most people selling toothpaste or gas aren't in the authoritative position to be able to change the price. However if you are talking about a house or a car these generally are worth negotiating for, so we do.

    38. Re:These days... by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      It's not about punishing, it's about not rewarding useless skills. A Man may run a marathon in less than 3 hours, if his job is to sit all day in front of a computer, his running abilities should not get him a higher salary.

    39. Re:These days... by Shados · · Score: 1

      All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      6+ figure long term transactions however always are... You can even negotiate your mortgage rate if you do business with someone who actually wants it (no, Citibank doesn't count)

    40. Re:These days... by BoogieChile · · Score: 1

      > That devalues ME and my unique contributions

      Ah, the old "somebody getting the same as I am means I am losing something" gambit.

    41. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lets not reward people based on a skill which is indifferent, or at worst detrimental, to actual performance.

    42. Re:These days... by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "Negotiations helps both sides find the middle ground that is acceptable in transactions where the stakes are high enough to be worth the trouble."

      High stakes? Like, humm... earning a live?

    43. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do women negotiating with other women perceive each other as catty and pushy or do only men make that distinction?

    44. Re:These days... by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      I feel like this thread started strong and has begun to swerve out into stereotype town.

      Slashdot never disappoints.

    45. Re:These days... by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      Please disregard, my reading comprehension is in the dumps today.

    46. Re:These days... by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      Unless he is called an arrogant douchebag, charisma has to be developed. Remains to be seen if women would get anything out it, does anyone seriously believe women's standard of living is lower?

    47. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless their position is in sales or marketing, there's no use selecting or paying for better negotiators. If they're upfront with their salary, people can just avoid them.

      This is kinda the wrong way to go about it though.

    48. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So rather than saying "No negotiating" wouldn't the correct solution have been for her to advise her HR staff to negotiate with men and women equally and to not look badly on women that do negotiate?

    49. Re:These days... by pla · · Score: 2

      Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      Of course we do - We just do it in a way less blunt than "A shekel for that, you must be mad!".

      Do you pay $6 for your toothpaste at 7-11, or $4 for the same brand and size at Walmart? Similarly, do you fill your car at the closest QwikyMart charging $0.15 higher than everyone else, or do you plan ahead to get gas at the average-priced Shell/Mobil/Major-Brand-X, or do you go out of your way to get gas at Sams for $0.10 less than everyone else has? We "negotiate" low margin prices by virtue of choosing where we buy. We don't try to talk most retail outlets down, we simply don't shop there except as a last resort.

      And on the subject of cars, when you move up to much higher margin items, like furniture and cars and houses - Do you still just pay list, or do you negotiate? Well, guess what - I make a couple times the cost of a new car per year; and you can bet your ass I'll negotiate my salary (and the price of a car/house/couch) to the best of my ability. And no, I won't trade cash-in-hand for equity. I might trade it for vacation time, only because I value that higher than money, but oddly enough I have yet to find a company willing to even consider that particular trade-off. Huh, you'd almost think they want to get as much work out of me for as little money as possible, almost like... like... some sort of negotiation!

      On the "bright" side, though, this will have the desired effect for Pao - Good negotiators won't even apply to work at Reddit, they'll go somewhere that recognizes the value of someone skilled at negotiation (a valuable skill in itself,useful in far, far more contexts than mere salary discussions). And assuming her premise holds true (I honestly don't know whether it does or doesn't), she will in effect get more women working there, and Reddit will benefit from underpaying them due to having banned negotiation in the name of "equality". That deserves a hell of a golf-clap, Ellen! It takes balls - erm, ovaries - to sell out your own kind in the name of protecting them from discrimination. Kudos!

    50. Re:These days... by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 1

      ...it's about the fact that culturally we (usually) are comfortable about men being pushy about their salary, while women tend to be treated negatively if they do the same thing.

      Or perhaps because we generally socialize men to be more assertive from childhood, when women attempt to negotiate they have less experience and do a poorer job. (And then there's the un-PC possibility that men are, on average, more assertive for biological reasons that no amount of socialization will change.)

      Negotiating is a subtle skill and I'm not convinced that we can say that two people who are both attempting it are "doing the same thing" without very careful observation.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    51. Re:These days... by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

      Nobody is penalized.

    52. Re:These days... by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ultimately, I think this whole thing is stupid. I'm a guy, but I have to imagine this is patronizing as all hell to women. Isn't this the kind of shit feminists have been fighting forever?

      This is the Social Justice Warrior brand of feminism rather than the egalitarian brand of feminism.

      --
      The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
    53. Re:These days... by exomondo · · Score: 1

      Do you pay $6 for your toothpaste at 7-11, or $4 for the same brand and size at Walmart?

      Well in that case you aren't actually negotiating with anybody, I think it's more that the potential reward of the sale to the vendor (if they even have the authority to set prices) and/or the savings value to customer is not worth the effort of negotiating. You don't go to 7-11 and try to convince them to sell you that $6 toothpaste for $4.

      But you're absolutely right on higher priced items, it's worth the vendor cutting into their profit a little if it's the difference between making the sale and not, and there's obviously much more incentive for the customer if you're talking hundreds or thousands of dollars rather than tens of cents.

    54. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to hire someone for any reason at all, you need to pay him enough to be competitive with other opportunities he has. Naturally, that number will be higher for good negotiators.

    55. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      except if you want to hire someone for a position where you need negotiation skills.

      So that's every job everywhere, right?

      No,
      you don't want the checkout clerk at Walmart to be negotiating prices.
      You don't want assembly line workers to be negotiating anything.
      You don't want coders to negotiate how much time they're going to be working tonight and this weekend.

    56. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I 'negotiate' for toothpaste and gas all the time. Because those items have extremely heavy competition, I can choose how much I am willing to spend through mere moments of comparison shopping. For gas it's ridiculously easy, they have apps for it. For toothpaste, I typically wait for Friday's flyers.

      With a job, you can't negotiate that way because there's just one of you and one of them. Thus a more personal approach is demanded. The same thing (personal negotiation) happens for toothpaste and gas in less developed countries were it's harder to comparison shop the same way.

    57. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually...

      You negotiate for things that are relevant. Walmart won't negotiate with you for toothpaste because you are of little impact and the negotiation would consume more resources than the extra potential sale could ever generate.

      However, if you go to a mom and pop's shop and say you want 100 tubes of toothpaste, you can sure as hell ask for a discount.

      Her plan can work if:
      a - she raises the offer so the candidate has little reason to negotiate
      b - she has so many people applying she can afford to not hire some

      In all likelihood it's a bogus statement which won't be implemented in full and fully dropped after a while.

    58. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We "negotiate" low margin prices by virtue of choosing where we buy.

      That is not negotiation, threatening to go somewhere else is a negotiation tactic but doing it does not mean you successfully negotiated a lower price with the vendor, you just got it at a lower price from a different vendor. If you take the case of TFA: They make you an offer, you decline and go elsewhere. Who was successful in that negotiation? Nobody.

    59. Re:These days... by Ichijo · · Score: 1

      So everyone is penalized...

      ...when everyone is paid fairly?

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    60. Re:These days... by slimjim8094 · · Score: 1

      You assume that people value their time and the money equally. But this is trivially false. Some people really want to make every last penny they can, and others just want to make enough to comfortably support them and their family, with plenty left over for hobbies and savings. If there is a sufficient supply of the latter type, go nuts - but if there isn't, and you won't negotiate with the former group, you will lose them assuming others will go higher, which they will due to the lack of talent. How do you know which type is which? Easy - they'll tell you by trying to negotiate. You don't pay them more because you value their negotiation skill, you pay them more because that's what you have to pay to get that person. You might as well ask why car dealers should reward good negotiators with cheaper prices.

      I didn't negotiate when I got my job, since I fall in the latter group and was happy with the offer. Sure I'd like more money if it landed in my lap, but honestly it'd only serve to fill my savings a bit faster and I think my compensation is fair. Other things are more important to me. If I wanted to fight tooth and nail for every cent than I'd do that at hiring time and relentlessly seek other jobs afterwards, jumping ship at the first sign of a higher offer.

      This is a stupid idea. Since people don't value money the same way, they will have to pick a number that will be too high for some and too low for others. They will lose the "too low" folks, and they will overpay the "too high" folks who were willing to work for less. Neither is good business.

      I am frankly offended by the idea that I need protecting (and then offended again when I'm the 'oppressor' despite facing the same 'problem'). Apparently unlike modern-day feminists, I believe that women are smart enough that they can decide for themselves whether a particular job offer is worth their labor.

      --
      I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
    61. Re:These days... by aquabat · · Score: 1

      There is no good reason to pay a good negotiator more than a bad, except if you want to hire someone for a position where you need negotiation skills.

      There is, if you want that particular person to work at your company. Since they are so good at negotiation, they can probably convince some other company, such as one of your competitors, to pay them what they want, if you don't want to.

      --
      A republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
    62. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The bigger question is that no one is asking, "where did she come up with men negotiate harder than women do and when women do get penalized for it?" Is she drawing this conclusion from some study? I'd like to see some empirical evidence 1) that this is correlation exists 2) the correlation is causation?

    63. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a vast power difference between an employer and a worker. If this employer strategy becomes widespread, it will just eliminate one of the few ways that a worker can make sure they are not being exploited by an employer. Employers will offer you less than your job is worth as a rule, because if you accept it they make more off of you.

      Good negotiators are the people getting paid nearest to what they are worth.

    64. Re:These days... by Headw1nd · · Score: 0

      Someone mod this up

    65. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So that's every job everywhere, right?

      Yes, but poor negotiators don't realize that. It's almost as universally applicable as, say, basic math skills.

    66. Re:These days... by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      All monetary transactions involve one party wanting to charge as much as possible and another wanting to pay as little as possible.

      But most of them don't involve negotiation.

      Instead the just involve the threat that if the offer/price isn't good enough, the applicant/shopper will go elsewhere.

      What's backward in the labor market vs the grocery market (etc) is that in most cases the seller sets the price and the buyer takes it or leaves it, while in this case it's the buyer setting the price and the seller can take it and possibly cut costs or accept losses if they do, or else go out of business.

      The labor market right now is like a grocery store where every customer walks in, picks what they want to buy, offers some money for it, and just walks out if the store wants more than that, so the stores for the most part just have to take whatever customers will offer for their goods (and if they can't afford to stay in business like that, tough shit for them eh?)

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    67. Re:These days... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Moreover the OP missed (as did most of the readers here) a too-subtle point made in the summary: it's not about who's better at negotiating, it's about the fact that culturally we (usually) are comfortable about men being pushy about their salary, while women tend to be treated negatively if they do the same thing.

      Well, shouldn't we be trying to fix that problem, rather than dodging it?

      It's like decreeing that everyone has to stand on the bus from now on in response to Rosa Parks, to avoid the argument over who can sit where.

    68. Re:These days... by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 1

      So progress would be to move in the direction of less negotiation. Where two people with the same BSCS and 3 years of experience are offered the exact same offer. That's not a random example btw. I was hired at the same time as a woman at my last job. We both had the same education and basic experience. For some reason my initial offer (I suck at negotiation so just took the first offer) was still 5k higher than hers.

    69. Re:These days... by fafalone · · Score: 1

      Oh you can still negotiate here in the US. Recently the 3 subway vendors I walk by on my evening commute in one station here in NYC raised everything from $1 to $1.25. Since I stop by several times a week for one particular item no other store I've found besides the subway newsstands sells (besides wholesale-only on the internet), I was particularly enraged. Once I found that the vendor on the other side of the station, that is out of my way, would still sell them to me for a dollar, I told the price gouger he could sell them to me for a dollar too or lose my business. I now get my item for $1 without having to walk out of my way. Victory!

    70. Re:These days... by houghi · · Score: 1

      It might be that it excist fior these reasons, but that does not make it right.

      Vacation needs to be negotiated? I am from Europe and here it isn't. It is dealt with as an information when you aply for a job. It differs from counbtry to country and from company to company. Some give more than others.

      In the short term it will be very interesting. In the long term when people realize they get payed less than their cow orkers, it will lead to unhappy workers. For this reason many comopanies use a very specific scale that is public, so you know what a co worker will earn at what grade.

      And the last one about the race to the bottom, when you are an individual, you wil loose the race to the bottom. The companies will find ways to get cheaper employees. (They might even import them and change the laws to make it possible)

      So yes, it is stupid and it amazes me how many people here defend it. As always they think they will outsmart the companies. Alone you can't. You are replacable.

      OTOH if women are cheaper, why are they not forcing out the male workforce?

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    71. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no good reason to pay a good negotiator more than a bad, except if you want to hire someone for a position where you need negotiation skills.

      That's true. But it is inverted to reality. There is a good reason to pay a bad negotiator less than a good. You save money on somebody who is willing to sell themselves for less than you might be willing to pay.

      So the injustice here is not the negotiation process, but in the willingness of the employer to let employees to sell themselves cheap. If she wants to right the injustice all she needs to do is to increase the salary of all employees to what they could have got if they had the negotiation skills to get the highest amount the employer would be willing to pay them.

      It does not make sense for a CEO to gripe about the salary injustice in her own company. If it is unjust then just adjust it so that isn't. Isn't this like a parent complaining that it is unjust that your sons get more candy from you than your daughters? Saying that from now on all new children will be treated just is a slap in the face to those children you already have who will not receive the same treatment.

    72. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because those two people react different on the outcome of the negotiation.
      The one that is confident accepts the outcome as result of the negotiation even if not all terms are met. The other reacts with resentment if doesn't get ALL terms.

    73. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's the fact that the bad negotiator will accept less than the good negotiator, if you can get them for less then why pay more?

    74. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because society sees extroversion, good verbal communication and social skills as virtuous in their own right and worthy of reward regardless of the actual job. Anyone who does not possess those traits is detrimental to the species and must be weeded from the gene pool (after extracting maximum useful work out if them). Compensating them well is orthogonal to this philosophy. These values are wired at a fairly low-level in human brains and aren't going to be deprecated quickly, but they do seem to be more prevalent in some developed countries than others (US/UK vs continental Northern Europe). This probably has something to do with the high amounts of bitterness, neuroticism and victim mentality observed in STEM fields, which tend to have a higher than usual proportion of those deficient in the desired traits but who may believe they should be better rewarded for the contributions they bring to society (they shouldn't, because your 'worth' as an individual to wider society is whatever it judges, not by some neutral measure of results). Tough shit for you, nerd, but please stay late in your cubicle again to fund your boss's new boat and your loud mouth sales colleagues 'client relations' trip to a 5 star resort. Interestingly though, the countries which seem to have moved on the most from alpha male adulation are also the ones often viewed as most 'free'.

    75. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Men negotiate harder than women do"

      Let's punish people who are good at something! Diversity!

      Its only fair. After all we don't let the niggahs pop a cap in someone's ass if their salary is too low

    76. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or buy off ebay, aliexpress, etc.! In some categories, the direct-from-china are soo much cheaper.

    77. Re:These days... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Crap companies that are likely to fail put low wages as their first priority. Good companies look to hire good staff within their budget.

      Crap employees only look for the highest wage, and don't care about the company. Good employees care about what the job is, what the company is like, what the work environment and non-monetary benefits are like.

      When a good company and good employee come together, their goals align.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    78. Re:These days... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      So, you are proposing that female negotiators are on average more douchebaggy than male negotiators?

      An interesting proposal. Fortunately, we have people who have emperically tested the facts. Wel liev in interesting times and gender reassignment surgery actually exists (and no, you can't usually tell). So we have people who have literally been on both sides of these things, as a male and as a female.

      And they seem to agree that what's considered confident and assertive when they were men was considered bitchy and pushy when they were women.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    79. Re:These days... by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      So, you are proposing that female negotiators are on average more douchebaggy than male negotiators?

      No, I'm proposing that people who complain that they get called 'bossy' are, very often, in fact bossy. There's a difference between leading and bossing......if you don't know it, please find out before continuing this conversation.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    80. Re:These days... by u38cg · · Score: 1

      Well, that's a fairly obvious consequence of banning the use of gender as a rating factor. Works the other way round in life insurance.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    81. Re:These days... by u38cg · · Score: 1

      One of these days I'm going to write a plugin that hides all posts online that contain the phrase "social justice warrior". You know nothing about feminism and you are behaving like a spoilt child.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    82. Re:These days... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      It exists because you've got two parties with two different goals. One wants to get paid as much as possible, the other wants to acquire something for as little as possible.

      All monetary transactions are like that. Yet we don't negotiate for toothpaste, gas, etc.

      Incorrect. We don't negotiate when doing so will cost us more than it will save us. If your statement were true then lots of companies would sell $1k toothpaste because "we don't negotiate for toothpaste". It's absolutely true that we negotiate rates of pay.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    83. Re:These days... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure if you missed the original point or trying to pull a bait and switch into a different argument.

      For the same behaviour women are more likely to get called "pushy" where a man would be "assertive". A lovely example is that transgender people have been able to observe this personally.

      The whole argument was about whether people treat different genders differently. A semantic argument over "pushy" versus "assertive" is a complete red-herring.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    84. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a lie fed to you by big companies. I know it is because I fell for it for a long time. Till I met a group of very desirable people who were better negotiators than me who all had started with an extra week or two. Do you really think a company would lose a chance to poach important people from a competitor because of the computer system of some HR outsourcing company? Do you think they would skip a great executive because that person wanted to be able to expense massage and the health plan didn't cover it? If you can make them want you badly enough you can get pretty much anything.

    85. Re:These days... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Everyone's focusing on the first part of that sentence, and not the 2nd... Take two people who negotiate equally strongly; the one with the penis is called confident and achieving, the one with the vagina is pushy and catty. So too late, some people (the one's with the vaginas) are already being punished for being good at something.

      How the hell did this get insightful? "Negotiating" a salary is not the same as negotiating a car purchase. I never sit down and talk with the HR person about salary, I simply politely decline until they come back with an offer that is acceptable, usually the final figure is the same as the one I put down in my cover letter under "salary expectations".

      There is no opportunity for cattiness or pushiness unless you insist on discussing why you deserve more than they offered, and if you are at that point then you have already lost. Your interview should have already convinced them of your utility to them and if it hasn't then no amount of whining from your side will change that.

      Just politely decline until they breach your expected salary threshold.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    86. Re:These days... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      Yes, and there's ongoing research to try to understand it. So far, we know that:
      • Women are slightly more likely than men to wish to pay women less for the same work than men and to be biased against assertive women.
      • It is entirely unconscious and both men and women will invent retroactive justifications for their decisions that are not related to gender.
      • It appears to be the result of cultural biases (i.e. it varies quantitatively between countries).

      Once we fully understand the cause, we can try to address it (though, given the apparent cause is early childhood conditioning of some form, it is likely to be a good 30+ years between starting to fix it and replacing all of the people in decision-making positions). At present, the best that we can do is address the symptoms. Just because you don't yet have a cure for the disease doesn't mean that you shouldn't treat the symptoms...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    87. Re:These days... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      There is no good reason to pay a good negotiator more than a bad, except if you want to hire someone for a position where you need negotiation skills.

      But there is good reason to pay a poor negotiator less than a good one - you save money.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    88. Re:These days... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      It's not about punishing, it's about not rewarding useless skills. A Man may run a marathon in less than 3 hours, if his job is to sit all day in front of a computer, his running abilities should not get him a higher salary.

      It's not about rewarding useless skills, it's about not paying more than you have to. There are very good business reasons to pay people just enough to get them to do the job especially if they are more valuable to you. The good negotiators are not being rewarded, they are just taking home the salary that the company is prepared to pay. The poor negotiators are not being punished, they are simply leaving the extra money with the employer.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    89. Re:These days... by pla · · Score: 1

      They make you an offer, you decline and go elsewhere. Who was successful in that negotiation? Nobody.

      I agree with you as a technicality, but in spirit, you've accomplished the same thing...

      Who won? The person who says "screw your pathetic offer" and does go elsewhere for a better deal. The company that fills a position they have open with someone good enough that they didn't need to accept the first lowball offer that came their way.

      And who lost? The company forced to either leave a position vacant, or possibly worse, fill it with someone so inexperienced (or just plain bad at what they do) that they had no alternatives but to accept the first paying offer that came their way.

      This can only work out well, both in terms of Reddit's future staffing and Pao's goal of equalizing the playing field for women, if Reddit suddenly starts leading the industry for salaries. And as much as I like Reddit - I just don't see that happening.

    90. Re:These days... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      "If it's $100K, there's going to be multiple 1000s in wiggle room. "

      Maybe in the 60's.. But in this day and age, most of that $100K needs to go to some sort of investor.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    91. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To only way to change that cultural prejudice is to have enough women say "I don't give a damn, I'm going to negotiate hard anyway"
      as long as not enough women are willing to make that choice the prejudice will remain

      You only change prejudice by having enough people say:
      "screw that, I'm not conforming to it, and I'm gonna succeed anyway"

      Especially for the first few breaking conformity that's often a hard path, yet that path becomes easier with every person deciding to take it anyway.

      (look at how society looks at professional people with tatoos today vs 30 years ago, 30 years ago it was not-done, these days most people don't care)

    92. Re:These days... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Swings and roundabouts. There was some unfairness, it was taken away and women lost out a little. On the other hand, there are examples of the same where men lost out. It's not a question of who wins and who loses, it's a question of treating people equally for things that they can't control.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    93. Re:These days... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      That's not what she said. It's actually explained in the summary, which you must have skipped over...

      She is saying that if men and women negotiate in the same manner men tend to come off better, because of subtle and mostly unconscious sexism.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    94. Re:These days... by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      I want to preface this with the following disclaimers:

      1. I find that disallowing salary negotiations is a nefarious business practice and I wouldn't work for a company that disallowed them simply because if they're not open to negotiations at the outset, who knows what else they'll disallow once you're in the door and invested.
      2. I find Ellen Pao to be a deeply shady (at best estimation) individual. She's a lawyer and yet discourages negotiation? Something about that seems largely off-center; I can't imagine any lawyer in the process of learning law didn't ever learn about where negotiation is necessary.

      That having been said, on the off-off-off-OFF chance that she has the best of intentions (road to hell and all that) she may be trying to correct the problem of not being good negotiators in the first place and never having had the resources to learn. Had she proposed that once an employee (male or female) has been hired and the company is more open to negotiations based on merit (given her very open biases, this is hardly likely of course) after a several-month probation period, and mentoring that allows open discussion on salary and how to get ahead, this course of action would be acceptable.

      I don't really believe she has the best of intentions, but I'm willing to play with generous interpretations every so often.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    95. Re:These days... by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      So what you're saying is that feminism can't possibly be corrupted or otherwise used for nefarious ends?

      Or that anyone who suggests as much (or points out a movement that may be engaging in such practices using an umbrella term - divisive and derogatory though it may be) must be dealt with as a child throwing a tantrum?

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    96. Re:These days... by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      In this case "equally" =/= "fairly".

      "Fair" means if you're better qualified walking in the door, you get paid more. "Fair" means if you're not afraid to establish your worth and can make a decent argument for it, then you get it. "Fair" means you earned that extra few $K a year.

      And how do you know what is "fair" in this instance anyway, unless you did the research and came in educated on the subject?

      Should "fair" mean that someone who gets paid less than someone who didn't bother coming in understanding what "fair wage" actually is and is willing to take whatever has been offered, thereby driving down the wage of someone who knows what their worth and is willing to make a decent argument for it?

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    97. Re:These days... by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      current infestation of MRAs

      Slightly off-topic observation that I know I will get modded down for, but it's still a peeve of mine, so I'm going to say it:

      Is it just me, or does it bother anyone else that anyone who usually uses the term "MRA" only does so to remind people that MRAs are bad?

      Nobody brought up the MRM. And yet when an argument gets raised that may be construed as anti-woman, it's automatically assumed that the person making an argument is an MRA, as if it's some sort of nebulous movement that one is a part of based on a set of beliefs (or non-beliefs, as if the MRM is like atheism) rather than it actually being an activism-based concept the way feminism is regarded.

      I don't consider myself one, and I don't agree with everything they stand for, but if you mean "misogynists" then SAY "misogynists".

      One more thing: I can't identify even one person on Slashdot that openly identifies as an MRA. I can't even find one person that overwhelmingly argues most of the positions that the MRM stands for. So, when you say "MRA", it seems to me you're invoking a big, bad boogeyman to end the argument because "OMG, misogyny", and it's a logic fail that I frankly find problematic.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    98. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this is lowest common denominator at its finest... This will be bad for Reddit, and pao is showing that she is not a capable CEO. Her next position will be retirement?

    99. Re:These days... by William+Baric · · Score: 1

      You obviously don't know how to negotiate. Being a good negotiator is about making the person you negotiate with believe that what you're selling is worth more than its true value. In this case, it's about making your employer believe you're more valuable than you truly are.

    100. Re:These days... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      You obviously don't know how to negotiate. Being a good negotiator is about making the person you negotiate with believe that what you're selling is worth more than its true value. In this case, it's about making your employer believe you're more valuable than you truly are.

      That's not negotiation, that's misrepresentation. There is no dictionary I am aware of nor common colloquial usage that means "misrepresent the value".

      No wonder you feel the way you do about this - if you knew and used "negotiation" the way the dictionary defines it then you wouldn't make the statements you do, like "rewarding someone for useless skills".

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    101. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who cares. I for one wouldn't go work at reddit for this conniving piece of shit.

    102. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      we (usually) are comfortable about men being pushy about their salary, while women tend to be treated negatively if they do the same thing

      Who's "we"? HR departments are, in large part, staffed by women. I can think of few instances where the recruiter I worked with wasn't a woman. Are women sexist against themselves? Bullshit.

    103. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Payroll systems are generally set up on a "minimal business rules" basis, and are stupid hard to change.

      So no, some things are not in the bucket with everything else as "everything's negotiable".

      The fact that you asked for something and the other party did not agree to it does not mean it can't be negotiated. It means you could not get the other party to agree to it.

    104. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Surely even Slashdot's current infestation of MRAs must see the problem with that.

      The only infestation here is fascists like yourself on crusades for "social justice", heedless of the communities you trample in doing so.

      SJWs have become the creationists of the the 2010's. No surprise that, once again, nerds and gamers are on the front line.

    105. Re:These days... by ilparatzo · · Score: 1

      "why negotiating even exists at all"

      In part it's also because most companies keep the salary they intend to pay for the position hidden until the last minute. Having sought out a job in the last few years and watched my wife do so, the experience has been that companies don't seem open to being honest about what they intend to pay until after you've devoted your time and energy to interviews. Therefore, since I am shown the real "intended" pay at the end of the process, why the hell shouldn't I be able to negotiate? I know what I want to be paid ... I'm just giving you the option to meet it.

    106. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      We're rewarding people of one gender when they negotiate a salary. We're punishing people of the other when they negotiate a salary. Surely even Slashdot's current infestation of MRAs must see the problem with that.

      I don't believe I'm a Men's Rights Advocate. I don't identify as one. And I've been on /. for a long time so "current infestation" doesn't quite fit. But I am a Caucasian male in my mid-40s. And I see widespread cultural acceptance of bashing people like me. In fact, I am bombarded routinely by messages in the media and online and elsewhere that I'm the problem with the world. Even though I see this, I still recognize I am in a position of majority and privilege. I also recognize that white males as a class have been in a position of power in this country since its beginning and in the rest of the world going back even further and are, in fact, a big part of the problems in the world.

      I believe even though I have benefits many other classes of people do not have merely by sheer luck of being born with a Y chromosome and little melanin in my skin, it doesn't make it right to ignore what is unjust even if it happens to a white person or a man or a white man. And I get a little tired of hearing all the ways that I personally have at some point in the past or am currently ruining the world.

      That being said, I believe I "see the problem with that" quite clearly. The problem is preconceived notions of what is acceptable masculine and feminine behavior and systemic bias against those whose behavior is different. The problem I have with this proposal isn't that it attempts to address that issue. I am glad the discussion is occurring and people get the chance to think about these issues and try to solve them. But this proposal does nothing to try to solve them and that's the problem I have with it.

      First and foremost, it is about symptoms, not causes. It does nothing to address the bias. It merely says, "bias happens in this situation so let's rid ourselves of this situation" instead of "bias happens in this situation so let's rid ourselves of this bias."

      Second, this proposal strikes me as a thinly veiled attempt at lowering all worker's pay instead of raising all worker's pay. That's a great plan for employers but not so much for employees.

      Third, this proposal only applies to lower level positions. There is no way Reddit (or pretty much any company) would abide by this proposal when hiring C-level executives and/or top-tier talent. It will be applied subjectively.

      There are more problems with it, imho. But those are the first and biggest three issues I have with it. The first issue alone is a non-starter in my opinion. Let's work towards a society that values individualism whether it's an effeminate man or an assertive woman or whatever else someone is. I have a child with a disability and there's a lot of bias against that class of people in almost every walk of life. The solution used to be institutionalizing them and removing them from society because, well, "eww! retards!" but we've come a long way since then. Not by removing the opportunity for bias to occur. But by slowly chipping away at the bias itself.

      Seems to me a lot of progress has been made in eliminating all kinds of bias in a similar manner: slow, methodical, education and changing of society's views. I'd like to see Ellen Pao suggest some initiatives at Reddit to do that. This "solution" doesn't.

    107. Re:These days... by phorm · · Score: 1

      No, but there's plenty of incentive to offer lower pay and say "sorry, we don't negotiate, take it or leave it" (and then perhaps when they don't take it, farm the job off to a TFW or H1-B, etc).

      Also, what some people might call "negotiation", others might call "showcasing."

      Yes, you're offering $30/h for this position which requires X, but I've been doing X longer than your average candidate and also do Y and Z which offer value to your company (which is worth something).

    108. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no good reason to pay a good negotiator more than a bad, except if you want to hire someone for a position where you need negotiation skills.

      Unless the good negotiator is the better candidate...

    109. Re:These days... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure if you missed the original point or trying to pull a bait and switch into a different argument.

      If we were talking about advanced algebra, you would need to have an understanding of the the basics of algebra as a prerequisite before having a discussion on the topic. I'm trying to understand whether you have the necessary knowledge to have a reasonable discussion on this topic.

      A semantic argument over "pushy" versus "assertive" is a complete red-herring.

      Clearly you don't.

      If you don't understand the difference between being a leader and being bossy, then you are incapable of reasoning rationally about this topic. Sorry.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    110. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're so full of shit.

      1. Negotiation is vital in any job, other than menial ones. Your example is completely meaningless and irrelevant.

      2. Women aren't as good at something as men. Let's ban it. Fucking genius. Sure fire winner.

    111. Re:These days... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Christ alive, you're a moron.

      Those words are perfectly well defined in a dictionary. For some reason you're trying to turn a debate about perception of the same behaviour from different gendered people into a debate over the meaning of two incredibly well established and well defined words.

      I smell an ulterior motive here.

      And since you bring up advanced algebra: you don't need to know what an operator does to be given the fact that you have an operator and it's inverse. We could say that men are called "frobnicators" and women exhibiting the same behaviour are called "antifrobnicators". See how you don't need to know what the word means in order to see how men and women are being treated differently?

      Now, I fully expect you to ignore all the points I made ant attemte to pick very tiny holes in the semantics of a single subclause.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    112. Re:These days... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Those words are perfectly well defined in a dictionary.

      And yet for some reason you don't understand the difference. You're a moron! See, I can use meaningless insults too.

      I smell an ulterior motive here.

      My motive is to have a discussion with knowledgeable people. If you're not reasonable, maybe I can push you to be a little more knowledgeable.

      Watch people who complain about being called 'bossy.' Very often they don't understand the difference; they just wanted to tell people what to do and have people follow them.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    113. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Standard behavior for an SJW, block block block! Must hide from all dissenting opinion! Its much warmer and comfier in my hugbox!

    114. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? H1B negotiate every day. I do it. My peers do it.

    115. Re:These days... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      And yet for some reason you don't understand the difference.

      Ah you've now got to the "ignoring my post and making shit up" stage of the argument.

      Or possibly you're monumentally thick.

      Let me spell it out for you in very... simple... terms.

      For the same behaviour men are called assertive and women are called bossy.

      Notice the phrase "same behaviour" in there?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    116. Re:These days... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Most roles includes elements of sales, marketing and other negotiation.

      When my boss tells me, "Do this by tomorrow!" it's the opening of a negotiation. "Do this" tells me he doesn't think it's optional, "by tomorrow" means he has a deadline in mind.

      I have 98 different ways of responding, only one of which is doing "this" by tomorrow, at least 60 of which retain a respectful professional courteous relationship with my boss. All are options and most require negotiation skills.

    117. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sound pushy, needy, and demanding, Lauren.

    118. Re:These days... by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      Negotiating is there to come to an agreement. The company wants to pay you nothing. You want a 10 figure salary, probably. When you get realistic an admin type is say $60,000. Maybe they can get you for say $50,000 so they offer that. You would probably want more like 80,000. They also have others to consider. Evaluations come in - who knows more, who has more experience and so on. Will whoever you are considering be a jackass? Eventually they offer a position and if you accept, there you are.

      This isn't like sears where you go in an buy a tractor or dishwasher and the price is the price.

    119. Re:These days... by tlambert · · Score: 1

      The fact that you asked for something and the other party did not agree to it does not mean it can't be negotiated. It means you could not get the other party to agree to it.

      I believe you missed the part where I called up ADP and pretended to be an entirely unrelated company potentially interested in contracting their services. This is what ADP said to me, and it confirmed what Apple had told me. This was in the middle of my negotiation. In the end, I negotiated moves in place where they could move, using the vacation accrual as a lever. So it all worked out.

    120. Re:These days... by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      I call BS on that. you have no leverage and everyone knows it. tell me, what CAN you do if the employer wants to force you to work every weekend for the next 3 months? what are you going to do or say back to the boss?

      go ahead. enlighten me, oh Mr. brave AC. tell us that you will tell the bossman to jump in the lake.

      but we know you are lying.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    121. Re:These days... by sayfawa · · Score: 1

      Thanks for trying with that guy.

      --
      Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
    122. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People aren't toothpaste and gas. The way you talk it makes it sound like you consider employees the same as slaves.

    123. Re:These days... by drsquare · · Score: 1

      Except they're not trying to hire negotiators.

    124. Re:These days... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Someone on the internet is wrong! And if I don't reply they'll keep being wrong!

      It's amazing though, the sheer level of denialism that happens on some topics. And when that fails, semantic quibbling. Anything to avoid the truth it seems.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    125. Re:These days... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you have thought problems.

      The claim was that ALL monetary transactions are "like that". Then included two that WERE NOT "like that".

      That is self-contradiction.

      If it had been "Almost all", then there would have been no necessary self-contradiction, but that is not the case, so there is.

      I'm afraid you either need to think or actually COMPREHEND the textual message,rather than internalise what the words "really mean" in your head that you reformulate so as to make it not contradicted by the examples where it *wasn't* "like that".

      Think. Even pussy-whipped boys looking for some 'poon donation by working as a white knight should be able to manage that.

    126. Re:These days... by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      Well behaved women rarely make history, no? ;-)

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    127. Re:These days... by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      Oh, I'm also pedantic as a motherfucker.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    128. Re:These days... by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      No. You just can't read it would seem.

      "like that" as in "One wants to get paid as much as possible, the other wants to acquire something for as little as possible."

      You may notice that was the quoted text. Examples of cases like that that do not result in individual negotiation. No contradiction. Just a counter example to the original claim that the former implies the later.

      I want to pay as little as possible when I buy toothpaste. The supermarket wants to get paid as much as possible. And yet we do not negotiate on an individual basis to determine the price. Maybe your supermarkets are different?

    129. Re:These days... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Let me spell it out for you in very... simple... terms.

      Let me spell it out for you.

      You are not qualified to discuss this topic.

      I sincerely hope that changes in the future so we can have an interesting conversation. For now you are ignorant.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    130. Re:These days... by hajile · · Score: 1

      But we do negotiate over toothpaste, gas, etc.

      If a company starts charging more than we think it's worth, we go with another brand of toothpaste. When items become more expensive and more specialized, this form of indirect negotiation becomes very unsatisfactory (you don't have identical IT jobs next to each other in the local supermarket).

    131. Re:These days... by metrix007 · · Score: 1

      Well, no, it's factual. You might not like it, but it's backed by a surprising amount of hard data.

      --
      If you ignore ACs because they are anonymous - you're an idiot.
    132. Re:These days... by u38cg · · Score: 1

      So what you're saying is that feminism can't possibly be corrupted

      Yup. Individuals can be dicks, sure. "Feminism"? No. Don't be stupid.

      anyone who suggests as much must be dealt with as a child throwing a tantrum?

      No, just people who are behaving like spoilt children - like you.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    133. Re:These days... by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

      Well, I did put "developed" in quotation marks. Personally, I prefer a society where negotiation is possible. I make my own toothpaste, and buy as much as I can from locally owned businesses, indie companies, and individuals.

  3. Negotiation by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We come up with an offer that we think is fair.

    That's a pretty poor negotiating strategy if you're trying to hire the talent you want rather than the gender you want.

    Why wouldn't I spend the time to fly out and interview if there was a significant chance I wouldn't like whatever number it was that they considered 'fair' and I couldn't negotiate from there?

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    1. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because you should know what they are offering beforehand, otherwise why go? You are paid for your ability to work, probably at a technically challenging job, not for your skill at negotiation and self marketing. If you have more skill go for a better job or try for a "senior" version of the same post but dont expect better pay for the same work.

    2. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol, nice idiocy. Sounds like he won't expect better pay for the "same work" (nice catchphrase, you people like it but it means nothing in the tech field), and won't apply to work at Reddit. As many others won't. Problem solved.

    3. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I have a friend who once told his boss he was underpaid and that he had a review coming up. He expected a raise after the review. If the raise was fair, he would stay. If not, he would leave. There would be no negotiating.

      After his review, they gave him a raise and he turned in his resignation. They tried to offer him more, but he told them they had their chance.

      I expect to see a lot of offers turned down with this new policy as well.

    4. Re:Negotiation by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Interviewing is all about self marketing. Nobody is going to hire a stranger unless they have a good reason to. Especially for IT related jobs because they have to trust that you'll handle sensitive data responsibly instead of selling it to some guy in China for your own personal profit.

    5. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought the whole point was to value gender above talent? The premise is that valuing talent alone doesn't cut it for women. So out with the talent, in with the gender. It's just affirmative action for women. If you've ever beaten someone out of a job due to race/ethnicity, you know how it works.

    6. Re: Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The offer you get is based on the impression you make in the interview . If you super impress, the offer will be different then is you barely impressed enough and they are giving you a shot . What's next one siZe fits all bonuses . I work in a professional profession at a govt agency where everyone gets paid the same no matter how hard you work or how skilled you are . Many people hold back because there is no reason to work harder . 80% of the workers are women but statistically the men make a bit more due to the willingness to take overtime while the women go home to take care of thier children

    7. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like AT&T Employees?

    8. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You make a habit of keeping idiots as friends?

    9. Re:Negotiation by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Yes, I was wondering about that too. How do you negotiate a raise once you've been working for a while? Or did they decide to not give raises?

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    10. Re:Negotiation by stephanruby · · Score: 2

      We come up with an offer that we think is fair.

      The truth is that everyone negotiates, even women.

      Need a relocation package to minimize the risk you're taking? Now a woman or a man can't even ask for one because the CEO has tunnel vision and doesn't want hear your needs. Need special hours, either much earlier or much later, to avoid being stuck in traffic for one hour and a half on the 101 (instead of breezing by in 42 minutes)? Now you're out of luck, because the CEO is demanding that HR sticks their fingers in their ears and says "Take it or leave it! This is a fair offer. Take it or leave it! This is a fair offer. Take it or leave it! This is a fair offer." ad infinitum.

      Not that I expect the people lower in the ranks to actually listen to their CEO. Management from on high, whether it being lead by a man or led by a woman, usually has a poor understanding of what's really happening in the trenches. And a good HR person (despite the cynical thoughts of many of you), who really wants to hire someone, will give the illusion of listening to management's commands while still trying to be reasonable at the same time.

    11. Re:Negotiation by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      No, valuing gender above talent is by definition discrimination. The whole point is to be gender-blind in valuing talent. You don't do that by eliminating negotiation, you do that by figuring out WHY women don't to as well in negotiation, then restructuring the negotiation process to eliminate that disadvantage.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    12. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "They tried to offer him more, but he told them they had their chance."

      This happened to me for my July review last year. I had taken over management of a third department into my portfolio, each one supposedly being temporary until a new hire could come on board, but I was left being the director of three completely different areas that were housed in different buildings (I started off as a software developer that accident rose to running the part of my company that focuses on this...the product design R&D was tangentially associated, but then when I was given a unit in the health care division...WTF DO I KNOW ABOUT THIS???)

      Job review came up in July...told them my salary needed to double given what I bringing into the company. I tripled the income, upped the efficiency, and by some estimates saved the organization. Double my salary wouldn't come close to the fact I'm now pretty much doing three directors jobs AND every area under me is exceeding growth far more than ever in the company history by actually having the areas work together and flattening the reporting lines.

      I was given a 20% raise and told it was HR policy not to have internal hires exceed this. Turns out, they never had me sign an NDA from the time I was simply a software developer because we really weren't working on anything all that important. And the fact that they tried to cheap out on my promotions meant that my re-categorizations were 'internal' and not official, so I never went through any new HR vetting. I got hired elsewhere, and my negotiation was exactly twice my old salary and not a cent higher.

      When I turned in my resignation, they almost immediately offered the figure I quoted. Thanked them for the offer but declined. They tripled it...wasn't interested. Told them I found another company that was willing to offer double my salary, they were willing to pay more but I didn't want more...I wanted what I wanted in July.

      Honestly, the salary I asked for was actually in line with other directors and that's all I wanted. The company had their chance to do it right and thought they could get away with paying the nerd less, even though he was outperforming every Wharton MBA that proudly bandied their credentials.

      That said, in the case of Reddit...I can see this being a good thing. Pay everyone what they are worth. If they are worth more -- promote them. If they are better than an A9 programmer, move them to a A7 programmer position. However, don't expect them to do the work of an A7 and then pay them A9 salary. If you hire someone, have them do the work at their level and don't expect more unless you are willing to give them a promotion.

      As a hiring manager, I've had to tell people with PhDs coming in that their PhD isn't that valuable because the position I'm filling is for XXX. However, being on the job may help their changes of getting promoted from within if a position opens up. I'm not expecting them to do PhD level work if they are at a research assistant level. I strongly believe that as both and employee and as a hiring manager, this is the sanest way to do things. And I think Reddit is on the right track.

    13. Re:Negotiation by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Do you get unfair offers? Offers below your current salary even after they've asked you want that salary is? Or do they offer a percentage above your current pay and you are just hoping to get a bit more by being pushy?

    14. Re:Negotiation by Headw1nd · · Score: 1

      I think you are confusing process and outcome. Just because you can negotiate doesn't mean that you are going to get what you want.

    15. Re:Negotiation by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      We come up with an offer that we think is fair.

      That's a pretty poor negotiating strategy if you're trying to hire the talent you want rather than the gender you want.

      I think she made it clear (repeatedly) that she isn't interested in the talent as long as it passes some baseline level. This is reddit, after all - what the hell would they do with talent?

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    16. Re:Negotiation by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Do you get unfair offers? Offers below your current salary even after they've asked you want that salary is? Or do they offer a percentage above your current pay and you are just hoping to get a bit more by being pushy?

      I politely decline until I receive an offer that I am comfortable with. I do not talk with them about how I am worth more than they are offering.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    17. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In this context, I would imagine that Reddit should just post their salary + perk list online.

      Right?

      After all, it's public info, and never changes per hire.

      Although, one has to wonder about existing employees. If I'm paid $x, I expect raises at *at least* inflation. And, if I do well, and become very skilled and valuable, and show incredible work ethic/output skill? I expect more at raise time.

      Does this mean she intends to not give raises, until all salaries are normalized?

      How would you feel, negotiating $x, then being held at $x for 5 to 10 years?

    18. Re:Negotiation by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Need a relocation package to minimize the risk you're taking? Now a woman or a man can't even ask for one because the CEO has tunnel vision and doesn't want hear your needs. Need special hours, either much earlier or much later, to avoid being stuck in traffic for one hour and a half on the 101 (instead of breezing by in 42 minutes)? Now you're out of luck, because the CEO is demanding that HR sticks their fingers in their ears and says "Take it or leave it! This is a fair offer. Take it or leave it! This is a fair offer. Take it or leave it! This is a fair offer." ad infinitum.

      That's an odd way of interpreting it. I'd assume they would look at the candidate and their needs and making them what they considered a fair offer, including help to relocate or flexible hours if that's what the candidate indicates they desire.

      Just asking what the candidate wants is not negotiation. That would come after making an offer of terms and salary.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what talent? Most of cohders can hardly read with understanding. Some of them are good negotiators.

    20. Re:Negotiation by jovetoo · · Score: 1

      Because they aren't hiring your for your negotiation skills...

    21. Re:Negotiation by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Because they aren't hiring your for your negotiation skills...

      They aren't hiring me at all. I have skills that are valuable to some organizations. If I were seeking new employment (which I'm not) my goals would not be to "get the job", it would be to find the organization for which my skills are most valuable and then help them understand why. I don't think Reddit would be on the list. I don't have a high opinion of the CEO either.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    22. Re:Negotiation by Drewdad · · Score: 1

      Salary negotiation starts long before a company makes an offer, so I don't really see how a "take it or leave it" approach is going to help.

      Figuring out a position's value to the business is hard. Finding out what the prospect makes now and offering incrementally above it is easy.

    23. Re:Negotiation by Cederic · · Score: 1

      After all, it's public info, and never changes per hire.

      I should maybe RTFA but why would you assume that?

      You apply for a job, you have two years experience in the role, four years experience with the technology, good educational credentials, you talk articulately, you have charm and gravitas, you demonstrate business acumen and you have great references.
      Some other twat applies for the same job, has the same role experience, similar education, comparable inter-personal skills, business understanding and references. They've just never touched that technology before.

      If I need two people I may well offer you both a job, in the same role. I'm sure as shit not going to offer you the same salary.

    24. Re:Negotiation by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Well, they have restructured the negotiation process. It's now extremely streamlined, and entirely gender neutral.

      What would be significantly more interesting to see is how they determine the salary offered :)

    25. Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If experience means a higher salary is "fair", then the OP is right: you should get automatically a pay rise every year, since every year you work there you get more experienced, which you asserted warrants more pay.

      If you're not worthy of an automatic annual pay increase, then your assertion that experience matters is falsified.

      Meanwhile, IN EITHER CASE, you can still post exactly the salary you offer in the job offer.

      Salary of BASE + 1500xYEARS_C_PROGRAMMING + 2500xYEARS_ORACLE_DBA + 500xYEARS_OTHER_PROGRAMMING Indeed the application form can be a spreadsheet that you type your experience in and it comes up with the salary before you send the form.

      People inside the company can see the pay rate too, and will get the same salary. The same should happen to EVERY post. Including the CEO one.

      If this is not possible, then the claim that it's not negotiable is false: each applicant is negotiated with, even if it's just "Why didn't you accept? Here's some more money!" desultory negotiation.

    26. Re:Negotiation by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 1

      The summary said that they were only preventing negotiation during the hiring process.

      --
      They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
  4. What if you are hiring a salesperson? by xmas2003 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wouldn't the ability to negotiate be a useful skill for a Reddit salesperson?

    --
    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
    1. Re:What if you are hiring a salesperson? by Ichijo · · Score: 1

      Sure, but this is about salaried employees.

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    2. Re:What if you are hiring a salesperson? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some are...

      Hope her HR department is up on the current rates for everyone or they have hell of a package. As if you get 2 offers the bigger one will probably on average win...

      Sounds like someone who does not negotiate very well. Not a very good trait for someone that high up in a company. If I were on the board of directors I would be seriously questioning that.

    3. Re:What if you are hiring a salesperson? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Surely a salesperson should be able to sell themselves at the interview, and make Reddit want to offer them a good salary and conditions to get them on-board. If they are a shit salesperson who has to make up for it by negotiating their salary hard then Reddit probably doesn't want them anyway.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:What if you are hiring a salesperson? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sounds like they are more concerned with the shape of that sales persons genitals than they are of their ability to do the job.

  5. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1, Insightful

    doesn't want labor t be able to negotiate higher pay. Their kind hates us and wants us to die. She is so Republican. She thinks we have no rights.

    Really? She sounds more like a Democrat to me. I thought the mantra of the Democrat party was equality through mediocrity?

    --
    Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
  6. Yeah, right. by msauve · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Men negotiate harder than women do"

    So, she makes a sexist statement to defend not negotiating in order to eliminate sexism? Fail. Would she use the same claim to defend hiring men over women for positions which involve negotiating contracts?

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    1. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      In more specific terms it is a known and measurable effect that men who push and demand more are praised as go getting or leader types and women making the same moves are called names, bossy at best, and penalised for asking. So women learn not to push because others punish them for it, not because of any real difference in temperament or talent.

    2. Re:Yeah, right. by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Apparently Reddit must suck already for women. Most places pay men and women the same, on average, for the same job with the same level of experience. It's in over $200K jobs where a disparity still exists, which is the CxO level, mostly (or if you ignore factors like type of job or years of experience and just compare headcount or age).

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    3. Re:Yeah, right. by Minupla · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, according to the latest figures I can find:
      http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/20...
        in 2009, women were on average paid 80% of men, across a broad segment of the work spectrum.

      This data is from the US Dept of Labor. If you have a more recent or competing authoritative citation I'd love to hear it, but in so far as I'm aware we still have an issue.

      Min

      --
      On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
    4. Re:Yeah, right. by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The gender wage gap is a myth. When you control for all the extraneous variables, men and women are paid the same. The reality is that men are paid more because they are willing to take uglier, riskier jobs, move longer distances for them, work longer hours, have more experience and qualifications in occupations with stronger demand, are willing to demand higher salaries, and are less likely to leave their career tracks for family obligations. Sorry to burst your politically correct bubble.

      http://www.amazon.ca/Why-Earn-More-Warren-Farrell/dp/0814472109/

      The wage-gap argument doesn't even make sense. Just imagine if a company could get the same productivity out of women and pay them 30% less. It would have an enormous competitive advantage over every other company in its industry and all the companies would quickly be forced to either hire all women themselves or go out of business, not because of any misguided government interference, but purely because of overwhelming free-market forces. The same argument applies for women in the boardroom. If they gave a company a distinct competitive advantage, every company would already be forced by the market to have lots of them.

    5. Re:Yeah, right. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      You're really going to claim the subjective bullshit you just described is 'known and measurable'??

    6. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, because those charts are totally useful because men and women do the "same work", right? Women don't take more time off, they aren't physically less capable in physically demanding jobs on average, they don't take big chunks of time off to have babies, and they _totally_ work in all the dangerous positions men do!

      PS: That was all sarcasm. Admittedly childish, but your facile link is just so idiotic I couldn't muster any more sophisticated approach.

      You fuckers and your lies about the "wage gap" get so very old. It's the same links, the same bullshit apples to oranges comparisons, the same entitled mentality, etc...Just fuck off.

    7. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      YES
      paper title -
      Social incentives for gender dfferences in the propensity to initiate negotiations: Sometimes it does hurt to ask
      Abstract -
      Four experiments show that gender differences in the propensity to initiate negotiations may be explained by differential treat-ment of men and women when they attempt to negotiate. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants evaluated written accounts of candidates who did or did not initiate negotiations for higher compensation. Evaluators penalized female candidates more than male candidates for initiating negotiations. In Experiment 3, participants evaluated videotapes of candidates who accepted compensation offers or initiated negotiations. Male evaluators penalized female candidates more than male candidates for initiating negotiations; female evaluators penalized all candidates for initiating negotiations. Perceptions of niceness and demandingness explained reistance to female negotiators. In Experiment 4, participants adopted the candidate’s perspective and assessed whether to initiate negotiations in same scenario used in Experiment 3. With male evaluators, women were less inclined than men to negotiate, and nervousness explained this effect. There was no gender difference when evaluator was female.

      link
      https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/cfawis/bowles.pdf

    8. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because she is a Republican and women. They hate us and want us to die. That is why she is doing it. She is a Republican so thus she hates herself. That is how they do.

    9. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, she makes a sexist statement to defend not negotiating in order to eliminate sexism? Fail. Would she use the same claim to defend hiring men over women for positions which involve negotiating contracts?

      A sexist would. Or a person wanting to justify their sexism.

      That would be bad, right?

    10. Re:Yeah, right. by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      Absolutely 100% correct.
      Also I would like to add that if this strategy is somehow supposed to 'help women' it is also going to backfire, just like all such nonsensical regulations rather than market based ideas do. There are plenty of women who will get hurt through the indirect action of their husbands/significant others not being able to get a better paying job.

      Even if men were payed more because they were better negotiators (which is not the reason for the higher pay that *some* men command over women as you have already mentioned) it doesn't mean that lowering their pay (which is all that this proposed 'solution' is) will not hurt women! Many of those men have women in their lives and when a man's potential earnings are capped by such artificial barriers those women (and the entire families) will also feel the sting.

    11. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The average wage gap exists because of the stupid way that the average is calculated.

      It's not weighted based on positions, such as school teachers, which is a position dominated by women. Naturally, it's not because men can't teach. There are far more men in the engineering fields, which tend to pay better, but it's not because women can't do it either.

    12. Re:Yeah, right. by LordLimecat · · Score: 1

      You're both right, but you managed to shift the goalposts with an incredibly misleading statement.

      What is true is that the population of women, on average, makes 80% of what the population of men makes. The reason this is INCREDIBLY misleading is it does not look at "pay for equal work"; it utterly disregards what industries men and women respectively tend to be in and just assumes that all women are in the same industries as all men and thus that 80% figure is indicating sexism.

      This 80% number is so notorious that it has been widely slammed, by such publications as Politifact, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate. That is, its SUCH a misleading statement that it is derided by publications ranging from neutral to liberal to conservative.

      Indeed, The Washington Post notes,

      June O’Neill, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office who has been a critic of the 77-cent statistic, has noted that the wage gap is affected by a number of factors, including that the average woman has less work experience than the average man and that more of the weeks worked by women are part-time rather than full-time. Women also tend to leave the work force for periods in order to raise children, seek jobs that may have more flexible hours but lower pay and choose careers that tend to have lower pay.

      Indeed, BLS data show that women who do not get married have virtually no wage gap; they earn 96 cents for every dollar a man makes.

      They [economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ] noted that women may prefer to accept jobs with lower wages but greater benefits (more flexible parental leave) so excluding such fringe benefits from the calculations will exaggerate the wage disparity.

      So yes: Technically, 77 cents on the dollar. That is, if you're attempting to push a political agenda by boiling down a really complex comparison to an inflated and highly controversial figure.

    13. Re:Yeah, right. by circletimessquare · · Score: 2

      the nordic countries have this great policy where they reward fathers time off for newborns in the same quantity as mothers

      this levels the playing field in terms of what children do to careers. in places like the usa, women's careers are interrupted by kids, men's aren't

      but if a woman takes 2 months off for kids, and then a man takes 2 months off, having children is equally damaging to male and female careers

      that's the best way to get equality: reward men with time off with their kids too. make child rearing an equal endeavour

      and maybe if both mothers and fathers get equal time off, they can stagger it weekly rather than monthly, meaning careers are less impacted

      the usa needs a law where time off for kids is

      1. paid

      2. the same for men as it is for women

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    14. Re:Yeah, right. by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      All she's doing is going with the Saturn model (the car). I had a Saturn, it had a huge number of fans who really loved it. But they offered one price, take it or leave it, no negotiating. Plenty of people though told us that we were foolish, that anyone could get a better offer by negotiating. But so what, maybe we paid a bit more, but the advantage that made it worth the extra money was that we did not have to negotiate! These pushy people who insist on negotiating don't seem to realize just how deeply negotiating is hated by others (especially negotiating for an auto).

      So have the Saturn model for hiring. If someone doesn't like it then they can go apply to the companies that do Honda hiring.

    15. Re:Yeah, right. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      So women learn not to push

      And now they're reinforcing that.

    16. Re: Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see a breast feeding mother staggering her time off. Still wouldn't be equal, would just cut into productivity and if I was searching for a job and my wife was 9 months pregnant I probably couldn't get one.

    17. Re:Yeah, right. by Beerdood · · Score: 1

      Why is that considered a sexist statement? "Men negotiate harder than women do". Men are generally more aggressive and take greater risks than women do in everything, including salary negotiation. That's a basic biological difference; most males in any species have to take a much greater risk than the females if they want to pass on their genes. If men truly do negotiate harder than women do, how is stating that fact a sexist statement? Seem no more sexist than stating that men are physically larger than women, or they drink more beer, or they play more video games.

      Now, if Ellen instead made a point that women are socially punished for being more aggressive during salary negotiation (or in general in the office), that may have garnered more sympathy. It's the suggestion to remove salary negotiation completely that's the problem here; this would be like removing physical tests for firefighters or police officers because women aren't physically built like men are. But we know this is probably a combination of a) bitter retaliation for losing the gender discrimination lawsuit and b) an excuse to try and pay less overall.

      --
      Global warming and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking number of pirates - Gospel of the FSM
    18. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You fucking moronic SJWs trying to "ban bossy" and other nonsense continually show what idiots you are. The idiots you hear complaining about being called bossy are called that because they're being bossy, not because they're being strong leaders. There is a difference, but you're too stupid to see it.

    19. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Men also work longer hours.

    20. Re:Yeah, right. by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      From your first link:

      "The holdout cities — those where the earnings of single, college-educated young women still lag men's — tended to be built around industries that are heavily male-dominated, such as software development or military-technology contracting. In other words, Silicon Valley could also be called Gender Gap Gully."

    21. Re:Yeah, right. by u38cg · · Score: 1
      No, the gender wage gap myth is a myth. Yes, large chunks of the gap can be explained, but not all of it. And the explanations themselves involve structural inequality; turtles all the way down.

      As for your competition argument, lol. For many industries the compensation bill is not the largest part of the expense base and cultural friction is sufficient to overcome the competitive advantage of employing women & minorities.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    22. Re:Yeah, right. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Sounds like we have a classic concern troll here.

      She also said this: women get penalized when they do negotiate

      If you get penalised when you do something is is surprising if you do it less? Pointing that out is not sexist.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    23. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Nordic countries (e..g, Sweden) a woman will generaly take 6 months to 1 year parental leave. Men take 1 or 2 months. Rarely do men take more than 6 months. Some politicians speak about forcing men and women to take equal amounts of parental leave. But women take 2 or 3 times more time in practice. The ratios of men-women also vary substantially between state agencies (on the one hand) and private industry (on the other hand).

    24. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just like Tesla, they offer one price, take it or leave it. Lots of dealers (for other car companies) offer single pricing these days, especially for their Internet sales departments.

    25. Re: Yeah, right. by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      You know, it's possible to store milk after it has been extracted. We have these things called 'fridges'.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    26. Re:Yeah, right. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I think you need to stop reacting to every single sentence fragment taken out of context on its own, and try to understand the entire argument being made. It's really very, very difficult to make a complex point in a way that can't be broken down into sound bites that seem superficially bad to people with an already established view on the subject.

      That's how a lot of media works these days. Try to notice when it is happening.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    27. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      some men do negotiate better than the other people. The job needs to be done by all that are given this opportunity. I watch with amusement how the muricans jump offended that somebody tries something different. You are really badly educated folk with little brains.

    28. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      US need more people with brains and need to ban fox news. Then we can talk about your (in my personal view) reasonable proposal.

    29. Re:Yeah, right. by FhnuZoag · · Score: 1

      The wage-gap argument doesn't even make sense. Just imagine if a company could get the same productivity out of women and pay them 30% less. It would have an enormous competitive advantage over every other company in its industry and all the companies would quickly be forced to either hire all women themselves or go out of business, not because of any misguided government interference, but purely because of overwhelming free-market forces. The same argument applies for women in the boardroom. If they gave a company a distinct competitive advantage, every company would already be forced by the market to have lots of them.

      You are being very stupid. Your basic mistake is in assuming that the free market is 100% efficient and free of prejudice. What on earth gives you that impression? Hiring and firing responds to the trends of the day. Why do you think the participation of women in the economy has been changing over time? Why do you think the wage-gap has been changing? Why is the level of the pay gap perfect and just today, of all days, when it wasn't back in the 90s, the 80s, the 70s or the 1840s?

      The fact is, prejudice exists despite the fact that it creates inefficiencies and makes more prejudiced people and companies perform worse. Because prejudice takes time to work itself out of the system! The Nazis refused to allow women into their munitions factories all the way until the end, even though this terrible decision contributed to their defeat to the Soviets who did so, and even put women into the front lines. If your argument was correct, the Nazis would never have done so, they would have seen the effects of their prejudices coming a long way off. But they didn't because they were idiots and in the real world there are a lot of idiots.

      Ellen Pao's experiment, whether it works or not, is part of the process whereby inefficiencies are removed from the system. To do so, after all, people need to try different things. People like you, who think the status quo is perfect already, have always existed, and have successively been proven wrong again and again throughout history.

    30. Re:Yeah, right. by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      good info, thank you

      fathers should indeed contribute to childcare as much as mothers. for many reasons, not just this topic

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    31. Re:Yeah, right. by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      yes

      this is disgusting:

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    32. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have worked in a male-dominated industry, where even the customer base was 90% male. While working in one of the world's top wholesalers I saw women work their way to top positions and I saw women perform as our top sales people. I have had several women tell me, candidly, that they hate having to negotiate with women, because men are pushovers (their words).

      I have seen this in many other places, as well, but I found the fact that I observed this in such a male-dominated industry quite notable.

      The reason studies like this don't hold any weight with so many people, men and women alike, is because they do not jive with what is observed in the real world. They are conceived and performed by people who have never worked a single day in the private sector, other than perhaps as a wait-person or bartender.

    33. Re:Yeah, right. by jovetoo · · Score: 1

      Not every statement that differentiates between sexes is sexism.

      Men and women are still physically different and experience different environmental pressures when growing up: this influences their behaviour. That is not sexism, that is reality.

    34. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which is why a man is the CEO of Reddit. Oh wait...

    35. Re:Yeah, right. by Drewdad · · Score: 1

      So train your employees to eliminate this bias.

      Start boot camps targeted at women to teach them negotiation.

      Fight the cultural bias, don't paint over it.

    36. Re:Yeah, right. by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

      I think it is stupid.
      Ok, having children is more damaging to a female career so let's make it more damaging to males too, let's make the couple's global revenue less, because, yeah equality. Biologically, men and women are different. Men can't breastfeed for example. And there is this small thing call pregnancy too.

      It's not that fathers don't deserve time with their kids, but newborn babies are clearly a woman's thing (except in special cases like adoption). The only thing a man can do is support, and it includes financial support.

    37. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good job at almost quoting enough to get context. Try really hard, put in some extra effort, move that mousing hand another couple inches, and you just might get it right next time.

      Protip: Sentence fragments are rarely complete thoughts. Sometimes, even a sentence isn't enough for proper context.

    38. Re:Yeah, right. by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      It's not that fathers don't deserve time with their kids

      exactly

      thank you for supporting fatherhood

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    39. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That page lack correction for *any* other variable. The really major other variable is hours worked; men work more hours per week than women. A couple of others I can immediately think of are amount of continuous experience, and the particular type of job within those sectors, and I know there's a bunch I don't remember.

      When you correct for the major variables, there's less than 1% difference that can possibly be attributed to gender. Some portion of that 1% is likely gender; some is likely variables we haven't thought about.

      Read Freakonomics (or possibly Superfreakonomics); Steven Levitt covers this with references.

      There is one aspect that isn't covered there: Women on average have a strong preference for men that make more than themselves. This means that as long as men are looking for partners, they will have an extra incentive to choose to take the kind of jobs that make them more money than women make.

    40. Re:Yeah, right. by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1
      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    41. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, the gap is almost entirely removed, to within the plausible levels of nonexistence. Take some stats classes on confidence limits.

      You also insist that the reasons are sexist, yet this is used as proof that it's sexist. Circular logic fail.

      The minor differences remaining can be explained by the fact that men don't have babies. Where would it gestate? In a box? And the risk must be countered for in any sensible business model, and insisting this is not done is offering privilege to women only for the POSSIBILITY they will have children. Which is sexism.

      If you claim that this is "only fair" because of "institutional and historical male privilege", then you don't want equality or fairness, you want revenge. Own up to it.

    42. Re:Yeah, right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You pay them then. Or create a pot where they fund it themselves, or create a policy where every employee gets so many hours that can be used for leave and a cash out option if they don't. It's bad enough the other employees (who might never have kids) are forced to pick up the slack during their down time there's no reason those people should get paid for making a choice. They have 9 months to save for their time off, there's no reason others should be forced to pay for them.

    43. Re:Yeah, right. by u38cg · · Score: 1

      No, the gap is almost entirely removed

      In some studies, in some cultures, most of which have been extensively criticised.

      Take some stats classes

      When I did my stats degree, we used the expression "confidence interval".

      By the way, isn't the fact women have babies something of a net benefit to men?

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
  7. So they want sub-par employees. by Kenja · · Score: 1

    "we aren’t going to reward people who are better negotiators with more compensation"
    Then you will find that the quality of candidate you get meets your low expectations.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:So they want sub-par employees. by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      That only makes sense if negotiation is a core competency of your job.

      It *will* bias the company away from hiring people who are good at their jobs and *also* good negotiators...but at the same time it should tend to bias them toward hiring people who are good at their jobs and *bad* negotiators.

    2. Re:So they want sub-par employees. by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "That only makes sense if negotiation is a core competency of your job."

      Unless you are a fab drone whose work is in the way of being automated anyway, negotiation is a core competency on any job.

      You are a coder who wants to correct something wrong? You go negotiate with the project manager.

      You are a project manager who really needs more time to reach a goal? You go negotiate with the manager.

      You are a manager that knows more bugdet is needed to reach the required ROI? You go negotiate with your area director.

      You are a director that really sees that your area needs a bigger share of the budget or more autonomy? You go negotiate on the board.

      Negotiating is basically understanding what's at stake, understand your position and that of others, find what's important and what's secondary and articulate clearly your points. It's a core competency for any job position, if the points above are really not needed, a machine can most probably do it better than a person.

    3. Re:So they want sub-par employees. by drsquare · · Score: 1

      Bad negotiators will be undervalued in the market so they should be able to pick up the same talent for less.

  8. Slashdot Liberal News Aggregator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love hearing about Reddit through Slashdot. Thanks guys!

  9. so, um, by roc97007 · · Score: 1

    Don't good negotiation skills increase the value of an employee?

    And... isn't this penalizing someone for having more talent? What other characteristics are we no longer going to consider? Typing speed? The ability to write a coherent sentence? Designing maintainable code?

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:so, um, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, the current state is rewarding people for belonging to a gender which for historical reasons is "permitted" to negotiate harder and be more demanding without being called "bossy" (or B****ey). People will penalise women for being aggressive, while rewarding men for the same behaviour, and without any knowledge that they are doing it. She just wants to remove the unfair advantage. Also "Negotiation" is not what you are paid for is it?

    2. Re:so, um, by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      "Negotiation" is very much part of what I am being paid for. Or what anyone is being paid for, who has to work with other people. Else, why the heck does the company send us to those Karrass seminars?

      Moreover, I wonder how far Ellen Pao would have gotten without sharp negotiation skills.

      This strikes me as one of those epiphanies that sounds good in your head but starts to fall apart when unintended consequences become apparent.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    3. Re:so, um, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Negotiating is a skill set, getting more money mostly is a matter of confidence to ask a manger to give you more, not skill at all or anything of real value to the company. You need enough confidence to do your job, any more is neither here nor there, but people are hard-wired to bias towards assuming confidence and competence correlate even when they don't, why make it worse? This is the problem, no skill difference is required, or exists, just more pushiness. Pushy women are penalised socially so they learn not push as a general strategy and they stuffer for it. Also to pre-empt to obvious reply, telling women to be more aggressive when they are left significantly worse of if they adopt normal "male" levels of aggression wont solve the problem.

    4. Re:so, um, by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

      without being called "bossy" (or B****ey).

      Why is what they are being called relevant? Are they there to do their job, or to make friends?

    5. Re:so, um, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also "Negotiation" is not what you are paid for is it?

      I wish. Negotiation is what I do *every* *single* *day*. "which of these bugs do you want fixed first? A or B" "How long do you have to get this done?" "Vender do you think you could do a little better on this price? Oh if you leave xyz out/in?"

      Negotiation is what we do. It is PART of every job. From the lowest code monkey to the most Sr VP.

  10. ironic by Hevel-Varik · · Score: 1

    The claim itself is 'sexist' I'm okay with it because I'm 'sexist' (whatever the hell that means I'm for it). I am against it because I'm 'sexist.' Good times.

  11. well, that makes perfect sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so... after a short time you expect to have a lot of people who are not expected to negotiate well? What sort of business would need those people?
    Why would you not reward someone who helps improve the situation for you and your workers?

    zero points. try some other idea

  12. April 1st... by 0123456 · · Score: 1

    ...was last week.

  13. Smart CEO - have everyone make less... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...and make it look like, "Because Diversity!"

    Evil genius.

  14. Hey slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ads at the bottom cover the submit button on a tablet or phone.... Try fixing it.

  15. Crazy by yog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought she was a little off, because of her battle with her previous employer. But this is ridiculous. According to the WSJ, she is personally vetting potential candidates for their attitudes on diversity, and if a candidate says "I am not concerned about diversity" or "I don't consider diversity important" then they don't get hired. And now this salary non-negotiation thing. No one of any value is going to interview there.

    I suppose the ones who are already there are safe because if she starts firing, say, white men, she's going to eventually have a nasty lawsuit to deal with. But I know her type. She probably won't fire anyone; she'll just harass and hound them into quitting.

    I can't believe Reddit wants this person as their CEO; she's going to destroy the company.

    --
    it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
    1. Re:Crazy by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I suppose the ones who are already there are safe because if she starts firing, say, white men, she's going to eventually have a nasty lawsuit to deal with.

      My observation is that unless said white males are either gay or Jewish there's no hope for them to ever win a discrimination lawsuit.

    2. Re:Crazy by Brulath · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are making a lot of claims without sufficient evidence to back them up. So she fits nicely into a stereotype in your mind because of one thing she does and therefore she's going to destroy a company on her mad crusade to... equality?

      Vetting candidates for their attitudes towards diversity in a diverse workplace isn't a terrible idea; you want people who will fit in with the company's culture, and if you can identify problems earlier on it should reduce the number of times a hire doesn't work out. That doesn't mean she won't hire someone who doesn't rate diversity as their #1 life goal, but if someone point-blank denies (“We ask [Reddit job candidates] what they think about diversity, and we did weed people out because of that.”) that equality has any value then perhaps they wouldn't work out.

      The news media puts the worst possible spin on everybody, because outrage sells very well. Don't go taking what they say and condemning a person without applying some critical thinking first. Maybe she will be the doom that you predict, but there's no evidence of that yet.

    3. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So what you're saying is that what one person says shows they're looking for reasons to be discriminatory, and what another person says shows they're not looking for reasons to be discriminatory, in spite of a statement that announces her bias ("men are better (at something)").

    4. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't believe Reddit wants this person as their CEO; she's going to destroy the company.

      Apparently you haven't been watching anything related to Reddit. #Gamergate showed their admins and moderators are chock full of censorious authoritarian Social Justice Warriors, and the insanity goes all the way to the top. The racist and sexist (against men and whites) r/ShitRedditSays (SRS) is their darling subreddit which is allowed to get away with breaking every rule they have, and from which many Reddit administrators come from and return to.

      TL;DR: Reddit is infested with feminists who go on witch hunts, so this sort of sexist shit shouldn't surprise you. Protip: The same thing is happening to Mozilla.

    5. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You're a funny guy. She tried to sleep her way to the top and then sued her employer when she failed. Her husband is in court over claims that he ran a Ponzi scheme. Who's spinning who here?

    6. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Replying as AC because I've already spent quite a few mod-points on this thread. My actual username is NicBenjamin.

      It's actually quite difficult to win a race or gender discrimination suit. The salad days of the 70s, when you could have your statistician play with the numbers until there was only a 4% chance of you not being hired/promoted/etc. due to your race ended when Nixon started appointing segregationists to the Supreme Court. Same with gender.

      Since Jurors have much more sympathy with people who look and act like them, white suburbanites frequently win suits:
      http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2...
      http://dailycaller.com/2014/08...
      http://www.diversityinc.com/le...
      http://www.foxnews.com/story/2...

    7. Re:Crazy by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      So she fits nicely into a stereotype in your mind

      Indeed, she does fit the "crazy bitch" stereotype rather well.

    8. Re:Crazy by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      I worked for a company in the mid 80's with a CEO who one day issued a memo to all employees that said "We will no longer hire smokers. As the first question in any interview of prospective employees ask if they are a smoker. If they say 'yes' terminate the interview."

      This was at a small biomedical electronics device company. Some of the best engineers on staff happened to be smokers.

      The CEO's edict went nowhere.

    9. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suppose the ones who are already there are safe because if she starts firing, say, white men, she's going to eventually have a nasty lawsuit to deal with.

      My observation is that unless said white males are either gay or Jewish there's no hope for them to ever win a discrimination lawsuit.

      Us white Jewish males get discriminated against just as much as you white non-Jewish males. The only males that don't get discriminated against are gay, and they aren't really males, even if properly equipped.

      Did that piss you off? TFB. FO.

    10. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't believe Reddit wants this person as their CEO; she's going to destroy the company.

      They probably don't, but they can't exactly get rid of her now, can they? She'll turn around and sue them for eleventy million dollars. I still can't figure out how she got the job in the first place. Thirty seconds on Google would have told anyone she's a toxic person to have in a company.

    11. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > You are making a lot of claims without sufficient evidence to back them up. So she fits nicely into a stereotype in your mind because of one thing she does and therefore she's going to destroy a company on her mad crusade to... equality?

      Well, if you read the news, you can find out a lot about her phony harassment suit (she has affair, it's the .. employer's fault?) that went nowhere and her marriage to a gay guy who is under investigation for fraud.

      There are plenty of good reasons not to trust this particular person and I think you're the one without facts here.

    12. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are gay or Jewish you probably have a friend or cousin who can sew you a very nice suit anyway.

    13. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She's putting her own personal values ahead of the profitability of the company. When those two conflict she'll make decisions that are sub-optimal from a profitability perspective. There's nothing hard to understand about it. Either you're playing dumb or you're not playing...

    14. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Vetting candidates for their attitudes towards diversity in a diverse workplace isn't a terrible idea; you want people who will fit in with the company's culture...

      I'm not sure you even realize that your argument ends up creating a less-diverse environment, at least when it comes to ideas as opposed to external surface attributes.

      I'm pretty sure you don't, which I find darkly amusing..

    15. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So she fits nicely into a stereotype in your mind

      Indeed, she does fit the "crazy bitch" stereotype rather well.

      So she's crazy good at negotiating?

    16. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just a little reminder: people aren't equal. Trying to force them to be equal when they aren't is like teaching a pig to sing.

    17. Re:Crazy by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      So that's her perogative. A male CEO acts like an asshole and people stand up for him, calling him a strong leader. A female CEO who acts like an asshole is called a bitch. Double standard. If you don't believe me, then what's the word for a male equivalent of a bitch, and don't give a word that implies something female or feminine. Even if you come up with one, I bet you had to think about it.

      A male CEO destroys the company with bad policies, it gets a little buzz. A female CEO destroys the company with bad policies, slashdot goes berzerk about liberals and reverse discrimination.

    18. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vetting candidates for their attitudes towards diversity in a diverse workplace isn't a terrible idea

      If you're metaphorically "color blind" in the truest sense, you would not give a second thought to "diversity." "What is diversity - we're all just people, right?" These people are insane and hypocritical down to their core. It doesn't matter what spin the media puts on it when it comes to the objective truth that promoting diversity is literally promoting differences, and promoting differences between people antagonizes them and results in resentment.

    19. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, she'll take down reddit once the key staff clear off. Rose destroyed digg (but at least he helped create it), reddit will follow the same path. Either that, or it'll end up like a PC echo chamber.

    20. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People preferred Steve Jobs to Carly Fiorina. Who knew?

    21. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So because she had an affair it must mean she was trying to sleep her way to the top, right? There can be no other reason!

    22. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was recently asked during a job interview (I was hired): "What do you think about working in a international environment? ". My answer was nearly: I don't give a shit. Translated for them: "this is just normal for me". The interviewer seemed surprised about my answer. Maybe was she expecting from me some cliché about how marvelous it is to meet new culture, language and so on.

      For me, the question is as interesting as " What do you think about breathing? ". The question does not have any meaning. My life was always in a international environment. My family composed of Germans, Americans, Cambodians, Belgians, ... My friends are from all around the world.

      What are the advantages was a sub-question? Just don't know. It's just life as usual. I don't see anything extraordinary in working in international environment. Adding to the fact that I speak three languages (my wife more than six) and I am able to understand some more.

      Diversity may be irrelevant for an applicant for the single reason that the question does not mean anything for them. I think diversity is normal for most people. But are not whining because there is not a perfect equilibrium between sex, gender, color, ... Most people prefer equal opportunity over diversity. Yeaah, I don't give a shit about diversity. I am living all day long in a diverse environment and I don't give a shit about the skin color, the religion, the first language, the sex, the genre ... of the people working with me. But I personally feel the people giving shit about all that despicable.

    23. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bastard?

    24. Re:Crazy by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      People are already jumping ship giving Voat a huge increase in users. Unless Reddit boots Pao, her toxic leadership is going to continue driving people away, both users and prospective employees.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    25. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't wait until she sues Reddit. What's the over/under 2 years?

    26. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And she was suing for the same amount her husband owes his victims. And her attorney's name is Lawless.

    27. Re:Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think it hurt him one bit. It really burned your ass though- typical Jewish response. In your nee herking wrrrage (OI!), you failed to notice that the OP's username is liquid_schwartz. It is likely he is just as Jewish as you are. So it's his people and he can use "those" words, rabbi. How about you go back to suing, robbing, or whatever it is you do to good God-fearing Christians? Just a tip from me to you....

    28. Re:Crazy by Cederic · · Score: 1

      That doesn't mean she won't hire someone who doesn't rate diversity as their #1 life goal, but if someone point-blank denies (âoeWe ask [Reddit job candidates] what they think about diversity, and we did weed people out because of that.â) that equality has any value then perhaps they wouldn't work out

      If "I am not concerned about diversity" is a reason for rejecting someone then I wouldn't get a job there.

      I'm not concerned about diversity. I work in a very diverse organisation, with people representing most shades of human skin, almost every continent, multiple languages and at least three genders. Why would I be concerned, it's a total fucking non-issue.

    29. Re:Crazy by drsquare · · Score: 1

      To be fair, does a company like reddit need a lot of talent? It's basically just a big website and doesn't produce any of its own content.

  16. Goodbye Reddit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Never knew you, never going to

    1. Re:Goodbye Reddit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never needed to

  17. Changes are not necessarily fixes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    CEO feels they were wronged in a prior stint, makes knee-jerk reaction to claim the moral high ground against those who claimed the prior legal action was just for personal enrichment. CEO fails to recognize that the company wouldn't have been negotiating if it wasn't necessary for them to attract and keep the talent they believed was necessary to succeed; already planning future lawsuit when board ousts CEO due to lackluster performance in 3 years after the best contributors leave for other companies that will reward them for their skills.

    Likely result: overpaying for talent after getting burned by multiple candidates, losing competitive edge due to loss of exceptional contributors, and not fixing a damn thing about all the people they've already hired.

  18. Good luck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Cheapskate under the guise of equality, yeah right.

    Keep in mind you get what you pay for. Do you really think you'll get competent people for free?
    I don't give a tiny rat's ass about equality when it comes to MY salary, but then again I've been my own boss for years and stringy companies are one of the many reasons I chose that path.

  19. I laugh evertime I hear reddit hired some SJW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder how her husbands pyramid schemes are going?

  20. Dead before it even starts by Harlequin80 · · Score: 2

    This is a stupid policy, but irrespective of that it will be circumvented by the direct line managers before it is even put in place.

    HR rule - All employees of a categorisation must be paid the same.

    Hiring Manager - OK HR. Please create the new position Systems Engineer Class 7a please. This role is paid X.

    HR - But you were hiring for a Systems Engineer Class 2.

    Hiring Manager - Correct but we have had some scope change and require a Class 7a which is exactly the same as a Class 2 but paid $3,600 a year more and happens to look exactly like Joe Blogs here.

    1. Re:Dead before it even starts by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      Or they will do it the way Governments do it.

      This role is to be an AO7 band 2 with a salary of $68,000. Now the private sector pays $180,000 for the same skillset so we are willing to offer a salary of $180,000 on a contract basis. The duration of the contract is 5 years.

    2. Re:Dead before it even starts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Most companies work that way.

      I have a friend who lead a small team. He found out what percentage of the company revenue his team was responsible for. He demanded a raise for everyone on his team based on how much money they were bringing in.

      HR explained to them that they couldn't have raises because of their titles and his title for which he was apparently already over paid. He got ahold of the list of titles and responsibilities. He pointed out that he did the work of about 8 executive level positions, so he demanded the titles and salaries of all 8 positions. Alternatively, HR could approve the raises for his team.

      His team all got their raises.

    3. Re:Dead before it even starts by Cederic · · Score: 1

      As someone that generates no revenue for the company no doubt your friend would demand that I get no pay.

      Good luck getting his own when the payroll system is switched off, and indeed in keeping his team's revenue figures up when we sell the building he works in and the equipment they use, because those are all corporate costs and not winning any revenue.

      What a cunt.

  21. Please ban reddit from Slashdot stories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Please

  22. No brownie points by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ellen Pao is trying to redeem her name, but this maneuver will only hurt Reddit. Clearly, one of three things will happen:

    1. Reddit will effectively lower salary for men who can negotiate elsewhere, meaning Reddit staff will skew female.
    2. Reddit will effectively raise salary for women who can't negotiate, meaning Reddit staff will skew female.
    3. (if) Men and women were already making the same income, (then) so this is just a PR stunt and nothing more.

    The first two are bad for Reddit, and the third is probably neutral. Taking the average, this stunt is bad for Reddit. Still, I doubt this will meaningfully change their sorry staff situation. They're already staffed by sexist and pro-censorship crazies; this will just be more of the same.

  23. Sticking makeup on a pig. by Jeeeb · · Score: 1

    Men are better negotiators than women? Since when? Sounds more like sticking some makeup on a decision to hardball candidates. Her original lawsuit ended up being pretty merit-less as well. She couldn't even win her unfair dismissal claim.

    1. Re:Sticking makeup on a pig. by Your.Master · · Score: 2

      It's not that men are better negotiators, it's that they are more likely to try to negotiate in the first place, when an offer is not explicitly described as negotiable.*

      I thought this was really well known. It is scientifically recorded -- one citation is here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w18...

      It's actually often cited as a big reason for the gender pay gap, especially when you consider that negotiation isn't just about salary but also about position.

      * There are also further possibilities, not fully proven, that can compound that. One you've already identified: perhaps women are just worse at it, either biologically or through socialization. Another is that people on the other end of the negotiating table might be better at negotiating against women, again either biologically or through socialization or other economic factors.

    2. Re:Sticking makeup on a pig. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except the pay gap is a myth, as you can see by the numerous comments on this article.

      ex.
      http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7227209&cid=49434651

  24. Good luck with that strategy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Now you know why behind every cuntish company is a stupid fuckin cunt. In fairness, I have to admit, I let my manager know well before review time what i expect to make, jobs are like cunts, a dime a dozen. If your not willing to bid farewell and shake your managers hand and let her/him know what a failure he is at his job (which is to keep managing you) then you might be a cunt too.

    1. Re: Good luck with that strategy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Crazy, the all female company reads like a work of fiction. Sounds like in her effort to recruit only women she straight up overpaid for less qualified candidates since she limited her supply of candidates to hire from. Would never think it would turn out like how it did though

  25. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

    It's the AC that thinks all Republicans are Robot Nixon from Futurama

  26. Lol amazing by cfalcon · · Score: 1

    What was said: "something something sexism".

    What she means: "We are lowering our entry salaries because we no longer need the top talent for our current set of requirements. Engineers with that level of skill and negotiating talent will go somewhere that will pay them what they are worth, and we are fine with that because we don't need that level of skill at the moment. I'll try to phrase this such that anyone who calls me on it sounds misogynistic, k thx!"

    1. Re:Lol amazing by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      tl;dr: reddit does not need top talent, will hire women instead.

      that sounds pretty sexist to me.

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  27. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > I thought the mantra of the Democrat party was equality through mediocrity?

    Some Democrats do this, yes. Some Republicans believe in ~~equality~~ fuck you, I got mine. I'm not sure which is worse.

  28. Poor judgement for a CEO by kencurry · · Score: 1

    She lost the lawsuit, which if you read the facts of the case, she had only a slim chance to prevail. (She had an affair there, they had senior partners who were women, etc.) Made it look like they let her go so she sued to get even, then lost. Now she applies dumb logic to the hiring process, which some could argue shows that she is the one with the sexist POV. Reddit board should dump her if they get the chance.

    --
    sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
    1. Re:Poor judgement for a CEO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ha. Fat chance. They don't want to be sued for $100M.

  29. New Positions by aoism · · Score: 1

    More femitechnonazi bait , but I'll bite: At my last job, I was told the salary cap for my position was X and there was nothing that could be done to circumvent it. When I threatened to leave, they made a new position for me, with a cap that was suspiciously around what I was asking for. Aside from how easy it is to get around the cap, shouldn't you award people based on their skills, not on the penis or vagina? And aren't negotiation and salesmanship highly valued skills?

    1. Re:New Positions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      shouldn't you award people based on their skills

      And how are negotiation skills relevant for a technical position?

    2. Re: New Positions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They aren't you dumb fucker. The skills he had which allowed him to negotiate are, you sopping cunt.

  30. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    > I thought the mantra of the Democrat party was equality through mediocrity?

    Some Democrats do this, yes. Some Republicans believe in ~~equality~~ fuck you, I got mine. I'm not sure which is worse.

    You can't suddenly make mediocre people good at what they do, so the only way for the left to enforce equality is to make the good people mediocre.

    I read an autobiography some years ago by a woman who was in the Chinese Army in the 70s or 80s, and one thing that particularly stood out was the part where she wrote about how she had to deliberately shoot badly on the shooting range, because anyone who could shoot well would be punished for making the others look bad.

    That's 'equality' red in tooth and claw.

  31. I tried this myself by wyattstorch516 · · Score: 1

    I got up to the register at the grocery store and when the cashier told me the groceries cost $35.50, I told her that I would pay $20 and I was not willing to negotiate. I walked out with an empty basket.

    1. Re:I tried this myself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got up to the register at the grocery store and when the cashier told me the groceries cost $35.50, I told her that I would pay $20 and I was not willing to negotiate. I walked out with an empty basket.

      That must have been one hell of a grocery basket to pay $20.

    2. Re:I tried this myself by msauve · · Score: 4, Funny

      "...I told her..."

      See, there's the problem. If it was a male cashier, he would have negotiated. I hear they're better at it.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:I tried this myself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A 1kg block of cheese, 2 litres of milk, a loaf of bread. $20.

    4. Re:I tried this myself by Frobnicator · · Score: 1

      when the cashier told me the groceries cost $35.50, I told her that I would pay $20...

      When I go to a restaurant I know sends out coupons, I will ask if they have any behind the counter, and they often do.

      When I go to stores that are known for discounts, I ask for them.

      Yesterday I needed new tires on my vehicle. At checkout I asked if they had any discounts available. He gave me 10% off.

      About a month ago I went to a rock chip repair shop I asked if they had any deals running. The clerk said there was a radio special running and I needed to say their station name for a huge discount... Then he told me the name of the station and smiled, waiting for me to repeat it.

      There are opportunities to negotiate everywhere.

      --
      //TODO: Think of witty sig statement
    5. Re:I tried this myself by aevan · · Score: 1

      I've seen people call in managers are 'big ticket' items and get price cuts that way (things with prices over 1,000) while at WalMart, at Sears, etc. Rather pissed me off to be honest, after having repeatedly told them we cannot negotiate the price, a manager comes in and blames us for being rigid but he will 'help them out'.

      Another job in an electrical warehouse, prices were negotiated all the time. Losses were just taken out on clients with less ability or that bought less overall. Remember that smirk on the one guys face as he sold a lamp fixture at triple normal price, all because the old lady took it at face value that was its worth. Eventually that place went under. Good riddance.

    6. Re:I tried this myself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So instead of groceries you bought a basket for $20?

    7. Re:I tried this myself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He meant the actual empty basket you claimed to have walked out with, numbnuts

  32. University are just as dumb by jklovanc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This reminds me of a policy that was caused the closure of Computer Science labs between 2AM and 6AM. The justification went something like this;

    There are women who are afraid to be on campus late at night and therefore will not access the computer labs during that time. If men have access to the labs at that time they will have an unfair advantage in completing their work. Therefore to keep access equal the labs will be closed

    It lasted about two months until they got security cameras in the labs. I think that was a face saving thing as many women on campus were upset about the closure too. This is the same faculty that shut off the phones in the labs because they could be used to make long distance calls (with some work). They forgot that those same phones could be used to call security if needed. This whole idea of making everyone equally bad is just stupid.

    1. Re:University are just as dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, really? You go to computer lab? I graduated in 1992 and let me tell you, I did not write much code in the lab. We had these cool things called "modems" and you could login remotely to the relevant Unix box. Dear god, I would never have graduated if I had to go on campus to code, too many people who can't get their modem working would want help with their damn assignment. ROFL.

    2. Re:University are just as dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      my school had 2 computer labs. one with windows pcs & macs and another with linux pcs and terminals that connected to a unix box. the latter was almost always empty.

    3. Re:University are just as dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >This whole idea of making everyone equally bad is just stupid.

      The hilarious thing-- The truly funny thing is, last week's season premier of My Little Pony made that *exact* same point. And that show was created by a feminist.

    4. Re:University are just as dumb by c9brown · · Score: 1

      In this case, it seems like the details matter but when you say "went something like this", its unclear if you've actually got their argument correct.
      1) Had there been attacks on women on campus or in the area?
      2) Was the closure actually to discourage anyone (including women) from hanging around the labs late at night when the crime rate is higher (before a camera was installed)?
      3) Was the workload for the courses that used the labs such that it likely required late night working?

      I'm guessing the answer to some or all of those questions is actually yes. You make it sound as if this was unnecessary complaining by some women, but is this the case? Furthermore, have you ever walked around the campus late at night as a woman? (or at least talked to women about this issue)?

    5. Re:University are just as dumb by jklovanc · · Score: 2

      At that time I was the President of the Computer Science Course Union and very involved with the discussions about this issue. I was at every faculty meeting where the decisions about this policy were discussed and made. Here are the answers to your questions.

      1) Had there been attacks on women on campus or in the area?

      No. There had been no sexual assaults on campus in the previous months.

      Was the closure actually to discourage anyone (including women) from hanging around the labs late at night when the crime rate is higher (before a camera was installed)?

      No. This is a very quiet University in a very quiet city. I was involved in the discussion and phrases like the one I referenced were uttered. I didn't say they were quotes because I can not remember the exact wording. There was no mention of crime rates in any of the discussions. It was all about possible perceived danger and "leveling the playing field".

      3) Was the workload for the courses that used the labs such that it likely required late night working?

      No. I was also a "programming consultant" at that time. We were the resource that students could go to if they had problems with their code. In my opinion the students had plenty of time to get the work done. There were many student who prefer to work straight through to complete the assignment in a single sitting. There were other students who waited till the last minute to get things done. It is what many University students do. They have not learned to plan their time and they need a few late nights to learn. Other students worked part time and sometimes needed to work late to complete assignments. It is not about work load but flexibility in planning when to do the work.

      You make it sound as if this was unnecessary complaining by some women, but is this the case?

      There was not a single documented case of a woman complaining. The Department admitted they were acting "proactively" to fix a problem that there was no evidence that actually existed. In fact there were many women protesting that the labs were closed because that too could not access them when desired.

      Furthermore, have you ever walked around the campus late at night as a woman? (or at least talked to women about this issue)?

      At that time, yes. As the Course Union President I talked to a number of female students who were incenses that the labs were closed. A number of them were also astounded at the twisted logic that denied them access because a theoretical person may not want to use the labs. On the safety front, our campus has a Safe Walk Program. One phone call will bring a campus security officer to the lab to escort the student to their car. Also, all the labs require a key card to enter.

      It came down to removing choice from a large segment of the student population because there could be a few people who did not feel safe late at night.

    6. Re:University are just as dumb by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Lots of schools have labs full of computers to which you might not have personal or remote access. And back when it was common for computers to come from meaningfully different vendors, they used to commonly have labs full of computers that you almost certainly wouldn't have at home, in rooms with names like "SPARC lab" and "SGI lab".

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:University are just as dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stop femsplaining.

    8. Re:University are just as dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was in that 1992 era. I *STILL* went to the lab. Because a HP XTerm was a hell of a lot better than the vt100 term emulator over 1200 baud. Comparing notes is a thousand times easier in person.

      who can't get their modem working would want help with their damn assignment.
      "Oh you should talk to tech support guys. They have cheat sheets to help you out."

  33. is that her job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What makes her think that gender equality of pay is something the CEO of a company should have any input on? Does she do anything that helps the company make money?

  34. She's a piece of work. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Gay scammer husband who also sued for "discrimination", and will possibly spend time in prison for fraud. Real bitch on wheels that nobody at work liked, and she felt entitled to raises/bonuses/etc... Sues company nice enough to hire her in the first place, and which bent over backwards acceding to her crazy demands prior and during the lawsuit.

    She then gets a job as CEO at Reddit 'somehow' (some sort of shady nepotism), and proceeds to get revenge by basically turning the place into an SJW-only space.

    If I was a white dude working at Reddit I'd be looking around for other work.

    Oh, and she can't ban salary negotiation. She can only say Reddit won't budge on their first offer. The potential employee can just say "mm, OK, but X-Cotech just offered me 5% more - see ya."

    1. Re:She's a piece of work. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not sure if Buddy's gay, but he's certainly bent.

    2. Re:She's a piece of work. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      It's probably fair to say that she's the Reddit communities CEO. It would suck to have any financial stake in the company, or work there as a professional.

    3. Re:She's a piece of work. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I used to work with Ellen during her early career as a lawyer (I had started out as tech support and ended up helping out with IT-related litigation). Your description could not be further from the person I knew back then. Extremely smart, thoughtful, and she would always shut up and knuckle under if there was any sort of question about her work ethic or capability. I also remember her being shafted on one occasion for her sex and ethnicity. When the partner in question couldn't cope and came to her for help, she didn't make anything of it and worked on it through a weekend without credit. She's earned her opinions.

    4. Re:She's a piece of work. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      She then gets a job as CEO at Reddit 'somehow' (some sort of shady nepotism), and proceeds to get revenge by basically turning the place into an SJW-only space.

      Yep, reddit, the home of /r/theredpill is an SJW-only space. Okey dokey.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  35. The gender wage gap is a myth. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why do people keep propagating this crap? When you measure by the only reasonable metric - pay versus hours worked, on average, women get paid 97% what men do. The only reason there is a "wage gap" is because women are much more likely to take maternity leave. If you're on leave, you're not gaining experience, and don't get a raise based on experience.

    Also, if you look only at women without children, you'll see similar statistics - 97 to 98% of the wage of men in the same position.

    1. Re:The gender wage gap is a myth. by jcr · · Score: 1

      Why do people keep propagating this crap?

      Because so many people accept it at face value. That's quite convenient for guilt-peddlers.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    2. Re:The gender wage gap is a myth. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >The only reason there is a "wage gap" is because women are much more likely to take maternity leave.
      Incorrect. Women are also, on average, shorter than men. Taller people make more money. The conclusion presents itself, but is probably not a 100% explanation.

  36. She is being sexist by dotslashdot · · Score: 1

    Seems like if she were truly interested in helping women, she would encourage, reward and train women to negotiate since it is a learned skill, not a gender based genetic trait. Instead, she takes the sexist position that women are inherently poor negotiators because of their gender, like it is genetic, so the only solution is to rig the selection process because women cannot be trained or encouraged to negotiate.

  37. what a bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So because of one femenist, everyone suffers? Doesnt she understand she's being extremely sexist right now?

  38. That bitch worships Hillary ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And you call her a 'Republican' ??

    1. Re:That bitch worships Hillary ! by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      If you're far enough on the left spectrum, you view Hillary as a moderate near-republican.

      I'm not kidding. Check for yourself.

  39. Statistical Reports Are Always Right... by Press2ToContinue · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... as long as they agree with my opinion.

    --
    Sent from my ENIAC
  40. right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    because of muh soggy knee you peasants must take what we think you are worth!

  41. Well, she's certainly improved transparency by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    because this is the most transparent attempt to pay people less that I've ever seen :).

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  42. Equal Pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not take it one step further and post position levels and salaries public across the board and stick to it. That way if a woman, man, or whatever gets hired for a job everyone knows what's goen on.

  43. You know who negotiates harder than me? by sanf780 · · Score: 1

    My mother!

  44. And let's be real here by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 1

    This is just a cop out to pay people less. "Oh sorry we don't negotiate on salary, it is a gender equality thing, you'll just have to take the pay we offered you even though it is below what you should make." It's a CEO being a CEO and looking to line their own pockets. However she's just figured out how to couch it in equality rhetoric so as to mask the fact that it is just designed to screw over workers to enrich her.

    1. Re:And let's be real here by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      bingo!

      I think we have a winnah, folks.

      its not about men and women. its a way to remove 'fair pay' from the job market. you will take what we offer or else.

      I bet it will go over big with the bay area ceo's. the rest of us, well, we're getting screwed once again.

      the class warfare (in real terms) can't come soon enough - sometimes I really think that.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    2. Re:And let's be real here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well pay scale +performance bonus are a faire way to deal with this

    3. Re:And let's be real here by ArsonSmith · · Score: 1

      If it's not a fair wage then don't take the job, there's plenty others in tech around to get.

      If you can't get a job paying more then take the lower pay until you can find one that pays what you want.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
  45. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You've got an odd idea about equality, it's not about making people perform equally at all.

    It's about the treatment of people. Your example in the Chinese Army is a reaction to unequal treatment.

  46. Sounds good to me. by Seor+Jojoba · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It means that in order for Reddit to be competitive in hiring, they will need to make a first offer (the fixed salary+benefits) that is at or above the market average. As a jobseeker, I can just look at what they have to offer and take it or leave it. No haggling. No drama. That sounds good to me! I'm decent at negotiating, but I don't enjoy it.

    For jobs where negotiating skill is NOT part of the job, the negotiation ban should make hiring decisions better correlate with merit. And generally, I want to be surrounded with people hired for relevant merits, and not just good self-promoters.

    1. Re:Sounds good to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you want to be surrounded by people who lack self-promotion skills, regardless of their relevant merits.

    2. Re:Sounds good to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For jobs where negotiating skill is NOT part of the job, the negotiation ban should make hiring decisions better correlate with merit. And generally, I want to be surrounded with people hired for relevant merits, and not just good self-promoters.

      No it won't. This is how you ensure you don't have any exceptional people working for you.

      Since they know what average pay in the field is (and its damn sure Reddit's first and only offer won't be enticingly high) they can look at Reddit's offer and go "With my skills, I'm pretty sure I can get more than that working for somebody else." The high talent will never even apply. You'll get the people who don't have confidence in their skills willing to settle for average, because they just want any job they can get.

    3. Re:Sounds good to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You make a good point, and highlight the two prevailing speculations (key word) on the issue. I wonder if we'll hear how this pans out, or if it becomes yet another grave outrage we collectively begrudgingly accept and then forget about.

    4. Re:Sounds good to me. by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      It means that in order for Reddit to be competitive in hiring, they will need to make a first offer (the fixed salary+benefits) that is at or above the market average. As a jobseeker, I can just look at what they have to offer and take it or leave it. No haggling. No drama. That sounds good to me! I'm decent at negotiating, but I don't enjoy it.

      For jobs where negotiating skill is NOT part of the job, the negotiation ban should make hiring decisions better correlate with merit. And generally, I want to be surrounded with people hired for relevant merits, and not just good self-promoters.

      Bingo. The only way they can keep competitive is to offer decent salaries *on their own*. I'm fairly good at negotiating, but only after many years and I'd really rather not have to.

    5. Re:Sounds good to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It means that in order for Reddit to be competitive in hiring, they will need to make a first offer (the fixed salary+benefits) that is at or above the market average. As a jobseeker, I can just look at what they have to offer and take it or leave it. No haggling. No drama. That sounds good to me!

      So if they make you an offer lower than you would accept, and you think there's a good reason you should be paid more than that, you will decide "how wonderful it is that even in our first interaction, this potential employer is unwilling to listen to my arguments" and take the offer you think is less than you could get elsewhere?

      In practice, this rule won't work as those doing the hiring will be constantly frustrated by their preferred candidates saying "I have a better offer elsewhere" or "I'm also interviewing at X" (and using the Reddit offer to ensure X offers a little more than that), and the person within Reddit not being able to make an improved offer to make the hire. If they want you, they want you, and losing the candidate for want of paying a few extra thousand is not something companies enjoy in the long run.

      So what will quickly end up happening is the frustrated managers phone the candidate, do the negotiation in an undocumented way on the phone, and agree with the candidate what offer the manager will make.

    6. Re:Sounds good to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So they can never use ranges then, its a one price affair.

    7. Re:Sounds good to me. by Bathroom+Humor · · Score: 1

      This is how I feel about it, really... I agree with the idea of a non-negotiable starting salary. I feel like Pao may be a sneaky little snake and isn't to be completely trusted, but with the proper safeguards in place, this policy could be a welcome change.
      Safeguards like:
      A fair salary, can't be lowered suddenly before or after being hired.
      Salaries of all employees need to be reviewed once a year to detect discrimination
      No creation of a lower paid "new" position for certain workers (like those on Visa), when the job is essentially the same

      Just things like this, to help keep the playing field level, and keep the pay about merit instead of non-related variables like confidence at a coding job.

    8. Re:Sounds good to me. by rdnetto · · Score: 1

      If they offer average pay, they'll get average employees. If they offer above average pay, they miss out on exceptional employees. And if they offer exceptional pay, they'll likely go bankrupt as most of their employees will not be exceptional.

      Negotiation exists because there's no objective way to evaluate the value of the employee to a company before they've been hired. If someone can get twice the work done (and can demonstrate this), they can justifiably demand twice the pay. Of course, the subjectivity is a double-edged sword, because it means that individual prejudices can affect the hiring process.

      One way to solve this problem is to handle all negotiation through a well-defined algorithm. The would-be employee shouldn't even interact with a person for this part of the process, just with a webpage. Strong AI is obviously impractical, but you could probably do a pretty good job of predicting performance if you managed to trawl a big enough dataset for some key statistics.

      Another approach is what this poster suggested, where pay (above a base salary) is determined by one's peers. In that case, the individual prejudices are averaged (which ideally negates them), and the valuation of the employee is done by their peers. You'd have to be very careful about how you implemented it though, as you run the risk of creating some major social/political problems with that approach.

      --
      Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
  47. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Really? She sounds more like a Democrat to me. I thought the mantra of the Democrat party was equality through mediocrity?

    Are you really that stupid?

    The (modern) Democratic Party is socially progressive and economically centrist, not communist. They advocate a progressive approach, aka, social security and safety net, increased taxes on the wealthy, tax-cuts for the low and middle class, increased minimum wage, modernized public education, universal health care (and many want single-payer), infrastructure investment, STEM investment, defense cuts, student loan reforms, and equal pay for equal work, among other policies...

    Nothing in their platform strives for equality through mediocrity, though it does seek to balance wealth distribution to reduce economic inequality. And anyone who bothers to look at the current economic disparity will quickly realize that if we continue our current path, the richest 1% of people will eventually end up with 99% of all the wealth. That's not sustainable or a good thing and just leads to Plutocracy (seems like we are almost there already).

  48. Warped thinking by Vlijmen+Fileer · · Score: 1

    How about women first making sure they are as good as men?
    ANd if you really want to go this path, how about caring about less pay for shorter people? For people with a weird voice? For people with disabilities? For people with an eccentric hairdo? For people who stink?
    Frantic feminist freak, bah.

  49. The law of Noes by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1, Funny
    This is our offer to you. No negotiations!

    No thank you!

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  50. And Overtime Has Nothing To Do With It by medv4380 · · Score: 1

    Yea men working over time at twice the rate of women, and women working part time at twice the rate of men has absolutely nothing to do with the wage gap. Or maybe the census data the shows this is just wrong.

  51. "are we negotiating?" by turkeydance · · Score: 1
  52. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Eventually the Republicans are going to kill us all. All they have to do is succeed once. Just once, and we're dead. By claiming labor has no right to negotiate, that hateful Republican is pushing us back to feudal times. They want feudal times. That is how they do. You're right that they hate us. This proves they want us to never make progress against their attacks. This keeps us down. With this, there's no damn point to even trying.

  53. Yay Ellen! Dumbass! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, Ellen Pao is pissed that past, present and future employers don't get down on their knees and lay the world at her feet.

    So she wants to fuck up salary negotiations for any and everyone else who actually has a spine.

    Ellen! SHUT THE FUCK UP! TRY HARDER NEXT TIME! LEAVE US THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR INADEQUACIES!

  54. Depends a lot on where they peg the offer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    An example from another field- most top tier law firms pay all associates that are the same number of years out of law school the same annual compensation (salary + bonus) and the compensation offers are non-negotiable. I.e. all first years get paid $X, all second years get paid $Y, etc. That continues for about 8 years until they make partner, leave or get designated "senior associates" or "of counsel". What makes it work is that pretty much all top tier law firms in major cities use the same scale (e.g. the top 10 firms in NYC all pay nearly the same at each level, the top 5 firms in LA all pay nearly the same at each level, etc, different for different cities of course), its pretty hard to practice in different states (have to pass the bar exam in each) and the top tier firms pay significantly more than non-top-tier firms in their city. So if she pegs the offers at or slightly above the max where comparable firms would pay candidates it should work fine. If she tries to pay around the average though then it likely won't...

    1. Re:Depends a lot on where they peg the offer... by uncqual · · Score: 1

      Yes, but then the women she hires will sue when they don't make partner (or VP or whatever).

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
  55. Everything's a negotiation by mileshigh · · Score: 1

    Negotiation is a basic skill. Everybody negotiates things great and small every day, all the time. Yes, even techies: negotiation is the core of those prized "collaboration skills."

    Ergo, were Pao's rather bald assertion to be true, women would be unskillful collaborators and consequently less valuable. Not my experience.

    What she's saying is incredibly condescending!

    1. Re:Everything's a negotiation by William+Baric · · Score: 2

      Negotiation is not about collaboration nor finding the best solution, it's about finding the best deal. Good negotiation skill is always detrimental to the person you negotiate with. In a team, a good negotiator is detrimental to the team.

      Sociopaths are almost always excellent negotiator. Think about it.

    2. Re:Everything's a negotiation by Enigma2175 · · Score: 2

      Negotiation is not about collaboration nor finding the best solution, it's about finding the best deal. Good negotiation skill is always detrimental to the person you negotiate with. In a team, a good negotiator is detrimental to the team.

      I don't think that's true at all. Good negotiators make good team members because they are able to compromise. They know how to view a situation from somebody else's point of view and create solutions that are beneficial to all parties. It's the people who are unable to negotiate that suck at teamwork. They get focused on only their point of view and refuse to concede any points, when dealing with poor negotiators it is often "My way or the highway!".

      --

      Enigma

    3. Re:Everything's a negotiation by FhnuZoag · · Score: 1

      I think there are a lot of definitions of 'good' negotiators in play here. Like, a 'good' negotiator in a pay negotiation might be someone who opts for a lower salary because they understand the pressures the business is under and do not want to earn more than their colleagues doing equivalent quality work. Such a person, willing to sacrifice for the greater good, would be a good asset to the company. However in the context, a 'good' negotiator is a person that is simply better at extracting more money from the company for their personal enrichment, at the detriment of everyone else, by refusing to compromise.

      Why should that be rewarded with higher pay? Why is that good in a team member?

  56. Typical nonsense... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's just punish those willing to negotiate hard and do what it takes to win. While we're at it let's hand everyone a f***ing trophy, never grade in red, and stifle any sense of competition or need to do better.

    Nice.

  57. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Democrat = Equality of Outcome (as evidenced by the assertion that %age population must equal %age in job role type equality) AKA Harrison Bergeron
    Republican = Equality of Opportunity (at least in theory the best person for the job gets the job and their color, gender, religion etc is irrelevant)

  58. Incompetence. by jcr · · Score: 1

    It's time for Reddit to show her the door. This policy will ensure that Reddit is unable to hire top talent.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Incompetence. by u38cg · · Score: 1

      Why on earth do you need "top talent" to run a simple webserver and sell ad space? All they host is text, for heaven's sake.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    2. Re:Incompetence. by jcr · · Score: 1

      Why on earth do you need "top talent" to run a simple webserver and sell ad space?

      Scale. Reddit is huge.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    3. Re:Incompetence. by u38cg · · Score: 1

      Bullshit. It's big, but it's not difficult.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
  59. Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by duckintheface · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the ability to negotiate aggressively is not a talent required for the job, there is no reason why someone who negotiates well should get a higher salary. The same skills that make for aggressive negotiation (affinity for conflict situations for example) may make a prospective employee perform less well in team situations.

    An interview should give the employer a chance to describe the job and the prospective employee a chance to describe their relevant talents. Each side should then know the market value of the applicants skills with respect to the job. If the company's offer does not match the applicants pay requirement, them should part ways. What does a negotiation accomplish?

    --
    "He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
    1. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Crashmarik · · Score: 2, Interesting

      if the ability to negotiate aggressively is not a talent required for the job,

      Aggressively is how the person eliminating negotiations framed it. The negative light is not surprising seeing as she obviously wanted to get rid of the practice.

    2. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by turbidostato · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "If the ability to negotiate aggressively is not a talent required for the job, there is no reason why someone who negotiates well should get a higher salary."

      Maybe you are right.

      But how funny that the "solution" this CEO proposes to avoid negotiation is "I'll make an offer and you'll take it" instead of, say, "you'll make an offer and I'll take it".

      "What does a negotiation accomplish?"

      Last I reviewed, a hiring contract is still a contract. You know, that stuff about "meeting of the minds", "consensus ad idem", "mutual assent"...

      And this specific kind of contracts are basically about exchanging labour for *money*. It's difficult to reach that "meeting of the minds", "consensus ad idem", "mutual assent"... about the exchange of labour for money when one party is void to bring the issue about money onto the table. Oh! and how convenient for the hirer while, at the same time, inconvenient for the hiree.

    3. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by TranquilVoid · · Score: 3

      Spot on. How about calling it the ability to negotiate well or successfully? For a whole bunch of reasons, men on average are more inclined to sell themselves and their abilities. If Reddit is too naive to see past this or they truly have a problem with aggressive/bullying negotiators then they need to become tougher negotiators themselves or stop hiring aggressive people.

    4. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      But how funny that the "solution" this CEO proposes to avoid negotiation is "I'll make an offer and you'll take it" instead of, say, "you'll make an offer and I'll take it".

      I'd guess that most potential employees would not be happy if it were the latter, but if you have a strong preference for that, I'm sure you are still welcome to state your salary demand in the cover letter.

    5. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by turbidostato · · Score: 2

      "I'd guess that most potential employees would not be happy if it were the latter"

      You are right. And you know why? Because most potential employees are aware that their leverage power against the employer is already very reduced to offer relevant-to-the-negotiation-process information if not required. For one, the employer knows perfectly what are the current salaries on staff and its deviations from average that the potential employee knows nothing about. Even about the overall market rates it's almost sure that employer knows better than the employee.

      "I'm sure you are still welcome to state your salary demand in the cover letter."

      Your are right. And you know why? Because this way the employee gains even more leverage power over the potential employee even before the first face-to-face contact.

      Negating the employee negotiation capabilities is always against the employee. Not too strange that this comes from a CEO.

    6. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      How about calling it the ability to negotiate well or successfully?

      We are talking about a simple number. One party wants to maximize it, the other minimize. There isn't any room for anything except a game of chicken there.

      If Reddit is too naive to see past this or they truly have a problem with aggressive/bullying negotiators then they need to become tougher negotiators themselves or stop hiring aggressive people.

      Or they can take advantage of their vastly stronger position and simply refuse to indulge the candidates. Sure, they might miss out on "top talent", but it doesn't take that to maintain a message board.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    7. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

      We are talking about a simple number. One party wants to maximize it, the other minimize. There isn't any room for anything except a game of chicken there.

      Nonsense. What we're talking about here is supposed to be a labor MARKET. In a market, people negotiate for prices. That's how markets get "price signals" that allow them to find the proper balance between supply and demand.

      Pao wants to make it a "take it or leave it" deal, with the result, as one GP said, that the "price" will almost surely go down across the board over time.

      No thanks.

      Or they can take advantage of their vastly stronger position and simply refuse to indulge the candidates. Sure, they might miss out on "top talent", but it doesn't take that to maintain a message board.

      While you have a point about message boards, again the result of not playing in the market is (which you have given kind of a sideways nod to): you will end up with lesser quality employees.

    8. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Games of chicken are easy to lose. I've found that those who claim to be good negotiators (such as with buying a new car) also tend to be somewhat annoying as well; aggressive, boisterous, high ego, self centered, etc. They're not afraid to lose that game of chicken, and indeed they are treating it like some sporting contest.

    9. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      In my experience some companies will ask once, "what is your current salary", or "what would you like as a salary". Then I get an offer that's a small to medium bump up above that. That's not really negotiation.

    10. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Immerman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When is the last time you negotiated prices at the grocery store? Yes, there are places where you can do so, but the prices then get determined almost entirely by the relative skill of the hagglers, rather than the actual value of the merchandise. "Market pricing" is an almost completely unrelated phenomena determined by the intersection of supply and demand curves for commodity-scale trading.

      Of course there are other options as well to try to get the best of both worlds - transparent salaries for one: put everybodies salary on their name plaque and you'll get a lot of disgruntled workers if you let Frank' superior haggling skills earn him a substantial pay raise, despite him being the office slacker.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    11. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by goose-incarnated · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, I have to ask - did she negotiate her own salary?

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    12. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by turbidostato · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Well, I have to ask - did she negotiate her own salary?"

      Are you kidding!?

      She's talking about the minions, not the masters. Of course she negotiated her contract to the latest comma.

    13. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by goose-incarnated · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Games of chicken are easy to lose. I've found that those who claim to be good negotiators (such as with buying a new car) also tend to be somewhat annoying as well; aggressive, boisterous, high ego, self centered, etc. They're not afraid to lose that game of chicken, and indeed they are treating it like some sporting contest.

      The problem is not "women don't negotiate" in this case, the problem is "Company chief aggressively negotiated own salary but demands that no one else in company is allowed to do as she did."

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    14. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then you end up with one price for all, because that's the only "fair" price. Forget their skills or their accomplishments. As soon as you post salaries, someone is going to be complaining that they make more that someone else and so everyone is going to end up with the same salary. That takes away any means by which an employer can encourage someone to work harder with a positive reward, as opposed to threats. If the slackers on your team see you making bonuses, they're going to want theirs too. And if they don't get them, it's not just the company who will get the resentment.

      I don't know about negotiation, but posting what people make just creates envy.

      And before you tell me that CEOs and executives of public companies have to post their salaries, why do you think that they are constantly driving their demands for compensation up? They know what the other guy makes, and the other guy knows what they make.

      What I make or what the other guy makes is none of anyone's business. If that is your plan for "gender equality", please get a new one.

    15. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      not really. it doesn;t matter how you describe it, well, successfully or aggressively - it doesn't make you necessarily the better employee, just more confident in negotiations. if 2 people are doing the same job with equivalent success, they should be paid the same.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    16. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, so if Frank is the office slacker then why would you pay him more? The "superior haggling skills" mean nothing and are a means to an end - securing talent that you want.

    17. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by N1AK · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When is the last time you negotiated prices at the grocery store?

      When was the last time you didn't negotiate prices on a house or car? And which is selecting an employer more like, buying you milk and bread for the week or a major purchasing decision?

    18. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So your issue is that other people negotiate better than you? And they are the problem?

    19. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The same skills that make for aggressive negotiation (affinity for conflict situations for example) may make a prospective employee perform less well in team situations.

      Such as assertiveness, confidence, problem-solving, optimal conflict-resolution (each side has different, yet aligned goals) and many, many other things which are a huge deal towards a team functioning well? Being at one end of that spectrum means you should be in sales (or CEO), and at the other end means you should probably be telecommuting exclusively, but the talents and skills that make someone a great negotiator make them a great team player (and leader). If someone isn't able or willing to negotiate, those same traits are going to hamper how dynamic the team can be.

      I don't really see this as a male-female thing, but there's a selection bias with always being around a bunch of geeks. Some are assertive and others are introverted yet assertive about *ideas*, while others are oblivious as to how their work and social connections fit into the company or are perceived.

      So, no deal as I've seen this play out. A good negotiator, instead of going "not possible" when asked for Feature X, will say "Great idea, but instead of x, we could do x minus y!" as opposed to "LOL there's no way." or "Yes, and..." as though you're at an improv class where promises and features all get piled on top of each other.

    20. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      But really, that attitude reinforces the problem in the tech world, the idea that workers are just people that can be plucked off a shelf for a price pushed down by market forces.

      It's not the reality though, because the STEM shortage is a real actual thing (no, I don't mean there aren't enough people in the field - there are - I mean there aren't enough competent and qualified people in the field - there aren't), and there are many attempts to counteract the increased wages caused by the shortage by pushing salaries down by bringing in foreign labour and so on and so forth.

      So when people say "negotiating" what they really mean, is arguing their case for a salary that properly reflects their worth. Apples on the supermarket shelf don't get to do this because they're fucking apples, and as nice as it would be if one jumped forward and said "Hey, pay an extra $1 for me because I taste better than all the others" because it genuinely did taste better that's just not going to happen.

      The fact is not every person is equally competent, qualified, and skilled. You can't tell candidate A that they're going to get paid the same as candidate B even though candidate A is infinitely more experienced because they just happen to fall into the same job band without losing candidate A in short order because he or she is fucked off that they're getting paid the same as someone more inept than them.

      Fixed salary bands never work in a competitive industry. They're the surest way to ensure that you do not have the flexibility you need in salary to hire and retain the best staff. Is it a problem that this disadvantages women? sure, but that's dealt with no by reducing your ability to hire and retain talent, but by making sure your side of negotiations makes it possible for people to negotiate fairly, and is aware of how to deal with aggressive negotiators that aren't worth what they're aggressively pushing rather than just bending over.

      Frankly, if your hiring managers can't do that then they shouldn't be managing because all it means is that they'll get pushed about and disadvantage weaker negotiators elsewhere in the work place. Both staff want Christmas off but one needs to cover? who do you think the manager is going to bend over for every fucking time.

      It sounds like Pao is on a mission now that she lost her case in court, that what she perceived to be unfair treatment was deemed to be entirely in her head, and that's not healthy.

      Sex equality is a problem that absolutely needs to be dealt with, and in some places, like the UK it largely already is. The latest job statistics show that in the UK women are actually paid more on average up to the age of 40. The overall statistic shows women paid less, but this is entirely down to the fact that after 40 salaries are typically much higher, creating an overall distortion compared to the below 40 range. After 40 it comes down to two things - leaving career paths after having children, and generational gender bias issues. These obviously still need to be sorted, but given that now people coming up through the workplace over the last 20 years have been conditioned into an environment where pay is balanced (well, where women get slightly more) the generational issue will be gone in the next 25 years worst case - all we need then is to get males to take a fairer share of leaving their careers to look after kids so that the females can work long hours and chase careers to an equal degree that males currently do if that's desirable.

      I don't know how the US compares on this sort of thing, but what I do know is that in the UK we've managed to reach equality for the majority of the workforce (the 40 and unders) without needing to force companies to reduce competitiveness with fixed salary bands, gender quotas and so on.

    21. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The key word there is "commodity".

      Talent is hardly a commodity.

      Hiring without negotiation, where every other company does negotiate, will only repel talent, and end up hiring mediocre workers.

      If that's what they need, go for it.

    22. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [[If the ability to negotiate aggressively is not a talent required for the job, there is no reason why someone who negotiates well should get a higher salary.]]

      I came here looking for exactly this comment. I agree.

    23. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't negotiate prices on a house or a car as recently as one second ago. In fact, I have been not negotiating prices on a house or a car for several years.

    24. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate.

      How is this not prejudice against men _and_ women? Are female lawyers not good negotiators? Are male introverts better negotiator? Everyone is different, regardless of gender.
      Aside from that, taking away the value of people's negotiating skills means those skills will wane, and thus people heading to other companies after hers will be at a disadvantage.

    25. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by jeremyp · · Score: 1

      The process of buying a house or car would be much less painful if there were no negotiation. The market would still work. Everybody would know where they were.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    26. Re: Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people get their biggest raises by jumping jobs.
      But throw in that a large number of companies demand to know your previous pay, in some cases demanding a W2. Then make in a take it or leave it offer. Looks like she wants all the power.

    27. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah I bet you negotiated hard to get a better deal and you get just as good deal as all others that negotiated as hard. The reason it is so is that people usually know how much certain goods cost (for houses you have surveys and for cars you have surveys too). There are exceptions but if I want a car I look up what other people pay and expect then a reduction on ask price. With the pay for the job this is not so because there are huge differences within a range of jobs in the same company or the same job across many companies which you cannot play out that easily - there ranges are much bigger and surveys much less reliable.
      I did not bother to read TFA but I suspect if salaries are not made public this is best approximation for equal pay I have seen so far. (barred major fuckup) It should work well for big companies.

    28. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Top Talent" are those who know how to properly code and design. The difference between top talent and "everyone else" is a 2 year project from a 6 man team with a list of bugs, then me, fresh out of college programmer re-writting that project from scratch with absolutely no code re-use within 2 months entirely on my own, not only fixing all bugs, but also getting the bulk process to run 1,000x faster for small sets, have O(N) scaling instead of O(N^2), so running closer to 1,000,000x faster for larger sets, consuming 1/10th the memory, and not having a single bug reported after 10 years of production use. And that doesn't include added features which have never had a reported bug and are used all the time. There's a reason I'm averaging about 9% yearly raises.

    29. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you purchased a Scion? http://www.scion.com/buy/pure_price/ Some people like the no hassle option.

    30. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She's a lawyer. What do you think?

    31. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by nabsltd · · Score: 1

      When is the last time you negotiated prices at the grocery store?

      I don't generally negotiate at grocery stores because it's just not a good ROI. Sure, getting an extra $0.25 off a 2-liter bottle of soda might be a 12% savings, but it's only a quarter. On the other hand, if I wanted 50 pounds of meat for a party, I might ask them for their normal "sale" price even if it wasn't on sale right now, because that could save me $100.

      I already do this with items like appliances, where I ask for the best sale price. I'm likely to get that price, because whatever store I'm in knows that some other store either currently has a price close to what I want, or will soon. And, no store sells those kind of things at a loss even on sale, so it's not really a problem for them.

    32. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by khallow · · Score: 1

      The process of buying a house or car would be much less painful if there were no negotiation.

      Not in the long run. What happens when you buy a lemon? Negotiation isn't about pain. It's learning about what you're going to buy and price discovery - figuring out a common price while attempting to pay less yourself.

    33. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Pedrito · · Score: 1

      I disagree. I've regularly negotiated better salaries than my co-workers. In many cases, I've negotiated better salaries than my bosses. I can do this because I have a strong basis upon which to negotiate. I'm generally better at what I do than most of my co-workers. I don't say it to brag. But I am and I negotiate from that position: I deserve more because I'm better at it than the average person and I have the track record to back that up. Should I now be paid what the average guy is paid? I'm not going to want to work for a company that doesn't appreciate the value I bring to the job (unless, of course, the job is just really cool, in which case salary takes a back seat).

    34. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      You'd be surprised how well the ability to negotiate helps me as a sysadmin. Management wants to block all the not-stupid stuff and do all the stupid stuff; I am the puppetmaster pulling their strings, so they concede to my requests.

    35. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by N1AK · · Score: 1

      I'm sure they do. I hate negotiating on personal purchases, but that doesn't mean that negotiating on major purchases is almost universally the norm.

    36. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by N1AK · · Score: 1

      Not everyone does however. Cars are priced and negotiated on in order to determine a customers willingness to pay. Some customers are willing to pay more, either because they are happy to or because they don't understand the process they are entering into) and this methodology allows them to make additional profit there, while selling at lower prices to other customers.

      I think the mistake with the change they are making is that they are throwing away potentially useful information when making a hiring decision. If you make me an offer, and you've incorrectly valued a skill I have, then not hiring me because you won't amend that offer is inefficient. It's naive to assume that companies are good at accurately and rationally valuing potential employees.

    37. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by rjstanford · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding? Hiring, especially in the high-tech space, is really hard. Finding good people takes a very long time and can be painfully expensive, in actual costs, training costs, and opportunity costs while you don't have someone in that space. I'd much rather pay someone a few thousand more and let them use whatever gear will make them most productive than nickel and dime them so that they can be lured away by someone willing to respect them.

      --
      You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
    38. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by rjstanford · · Score: 1

      So in this scenario you'd also be getting a different titleor pay grade, which would include public recognition that the company does indeed consider you better than those who in the current situation are seen by people on other teams as your "peers". Is that so bad?

      --
      You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
    39. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my experience some companies will ask once, "what is your current salary", or "what would you like as a salary". Then I get an offer that's a small to medium bump up above that. That's not really negotiation.

      What was your response? You can't expect the other side to negotiate for you. If you don't negotiate, there will be no negotiation.

    40. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by ilparatzo · · Score: 1

      What this is saying is that as a prospective employee, I get to have zero input into what I feel I should be paid. Most jobs you apply for, you're not even provided with a pay estimate by the employer until you get the offer, apart from either a very wide range or a guesstimate from a salary website.

      Maybe if the practice is to say "if we make you an offer it will be between these two numbers" PRIOR TO calling me in for an interview, that is one thing. Otherwise these reeks of a veiled way to keep salaries down. Which I guess, in essence, this is what they are saying anyway.

      And I certainly have to wonder if this will be their policy with ALL employees, or whether it will still not apply to the upper echelon staff. Not to mention vendors, since allowing "negotiations" would also discriminate for the same reasons against women owned vendors versus male owned vendors.

    41. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by entrigant · · Score: 1

      Not negotiating is, indeed, not negotiating. Have you tried negotiating?

    42. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by neurovish · · Score: 1

      When is the last time you negotiated prices at the grocery store? Yes, there are places where you can do so, but the prices then get determined almost entirely by the relative skill of the hagglers, rather than the actual value of the merchandise. "Market pricing" is an almost completely unrelated phenomena determined by the intersection of supply and demand curves for commodity-scale trading.

      Of course there are other options as well to try to get the best of both worlds - transparent salaries for one: put everybodies salary on their name plaque and you'll get a lot of disgruntled workers if you let Frank' superior haggling skills earn him a substantial pay raise, despite him being the office slacker.

      Does that include shopping at another competing store where Item X costs less?

    43. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the ability to negotiate aggressively is not a talent required for the job, there is no reason why someone who negotiates well should get a higher salary.

      Except the alternative here is "no salary negotiation". Which will lower salaries across the board, and is an anti-labor tactic. It's also simply going to be harder to attract talent when an employer simply just chooses a number they think is "fair", and will reject candidates they really like if they happen to have chosen a number that's too low.

      Negotiation isn't evil, it's simply a process to understand market conditions and reveal hidden information.

    44. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by CSHARP123 · · Score: 1

      This is nothing but bring in a tech force union to negotiate a salary. Probably this may reduce the H1B intake as they have to be paid the same. Win-Win

    45. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      And they can go work for Reddit. The fact that Toyota setup a division specifically to overcharge these types proves nothing.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    46. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by ultranova · · Score: 2

      When was the last time you didn't negotiate prices on a house or car? And which is selecting an employer more like, buying you milk and bread for the week or a major purchasing decision?

      Neither. You aren't a buyer but a seller, and you can't afford to wait for a better price because every second that goes by unsold (unemployed) is lost forever with zero profits but non-zero upkeep costs. Your position is like a landlord who must pay a constant mortgage from his property and can't get rid of it (except via suicide), so he can't afford to wait for high-class tenants. Also, there's far more rooms for rent than tenants, so realistically he's stuck with the shitty situation for the rest of his life.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    47. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Have you ever worked an office full of passive aggressive non-negotiator types?

      Your kind annoys us as much or more then we annoy you.

      I'll take an aggressive coworker over a spineless one, every time. If the aggressive one doesn't actually have what (s)he thinks (s)he has, they are walking soon enough. You can't fix gutless. The absolute worst is gutless middle management, who will insist on gutless workers.

      Some managers like gutless. If you find one of them, run, don't walk.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    48. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Immerman · · Score: 2

      Oh, I don't know - if I know that Jen down the hall is a crack programmer that busts her ass to accomplish more, faster than than I can, and can offer some god advice when I get stuck, then I've got no problem with her pulling down a substantially bigger paycheck than me. She's contributing substantially more value, so that's only fair.

      And when it comes time to negotiate I can say "hey, she's making 80% more than me, but only contributing 30% more, I think I deserve a raise. You can then say either "no, she's actually contributing 90% more", or "programmers of your caliber are a dime a dozen, be glad you have a job", or "you know, you're right". The only thing you *can't* do is give me a blank look and say "where did you get that idea?" or "we don't discuss the salaries of other employees".

      Ignorance of salaries only benefits the people paying them.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    49. Re: Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Simple solution to those making demands. Stop returning their calls and get a better job. Fuck them.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    50. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go big or go home. Rarely do we lose at that, because the majority of the world eventually crumples over and gives in.

    51. Re: Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll make a great Union steward.

    52. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The last time I negotiated a price at a store which advertises a price and generally sells at that price was today.

    53. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Presumably everyone at the company negotiated their own salary. A more relevant question is whether she will negotiate her salary in the future.

    54. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, you did exactly that the last time you went to another market to buy a product you knew was cheaper there

    55. Re: Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are getting stiffed, EMC offers a 6% raise a year for doing your job the same as you always did it.

    56. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The same skills that make for aggressive negotiation (affinity for conflict situations for example) may make a prospective employee perform less well in team situations.

      ... What does a negotiation accomplish?

      Spoken like the truly mediocre.

      When I read this article the thing that popped to mind was, "Ah ha!" Someone (a woman no less) is admitting that there are differences between men and women beyond the physically obvious. If some men are better negotiators than most women, or are more "aggressive," then perhaps those same qualities translate into job results that, over time, lead to salary differences. If true, is there really something to be "fixed" here? If you say "yes" then what you really want is not equality in the noble sense, but you want men to behave more like women.

    57. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by chilenexus · · Score: 1

      > "to the latest comma."

      Where do you get the updates for commas?

    58. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I negotiate all the time at the grocery store! Item X is $5, I'm willing to pay $3.50, the store won't change their price, so I don't buy it. That's how a lot of my "real" negotiations go too. However, unlike (say) the local ma & pa shoe store, since the megamart grocery store won't haggle, they fail to make a sale everytime I negotiate. Instead of letting me tell them how I view the market instantaneously, they get that information by monitoring the patterns on my loyalty card. Then they lower the price, then I buy the product again.

    59. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Immerman · · Score: 1

      No, that has nothing to do with haggling/negotiation skill, simply with being well informed. Negotiating would be if you convinced store X to sell you the product at store Y's price - which may be possible *if* you're good at negotiating, but isn't the normal situation.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    60. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by KingMotley · · Score: 1

      The problem with that is that MOST people greatly overestimate their worth, often underestimating other people's worth. This tends to have on a whole a negative impact if everyone knows how their employers actually view their worth. Quite often, a person's salary is reflective of the market at the time they here hired. Everyone else that may be equal in value then gets disgruntled that they new hire is getting paid more, even though they are equal value. In general, most people simply can't handle the truth.

    61. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by KingMotley · · Score: 1

      I haven't negotiated the price of a house or car for over 12 years or so. My last car, I bought new and there was no negotiation at all.

    62. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Presumably everyone at the company negotiated their own salary.

      She claims that the women didn't.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    63. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When was the last time you didn't negotiate prices on a house or car?

      And when was the last time you were glad that you had to negotiate prices on a house or car?

    64. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, she claimed that a lower percentage of women negotiated, and those that did were on average less successful than their male counterparts.

    65. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      There's a reason I'm averaging about 9% yearly raises.

      Not a good one - just out of college you should be getting far more than 9% annual increments.

      Incidentally, rewriting an existing system is far easier than building it the first time, with poor constantly changing requirements, resource shortages, new technology, inadequate data and four other concurrent tasks.

    66. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Immerman · · Score: 2

      Perhaps the employer should consider that if the new guy is worth X% more than the current staff because of market conditions, then the current staff is likely worth just as much more and could walk out the door to another job at the higher rate, so maybe they should all get raises too. If everyone knows that the job market is tight enough that the new guy can demand a higher wage, then they all benefit. Only management suffers from a well-informed workforce, and management has been fleecing this country for the better part of a century.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    67. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Exactly! I HATE negotiating for a car or house. If I see a car, the windows says $2995 but all I want to spend is $2500, I'll just walk away. I won't even ask even though they'd probably drop that $495. I find it rude and I'm not a bullshitter. It don't appeal to me.

    68. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by KingMotley · · Score: 1

      Perhaps, but then again, everyone needs to agree that when the market crashes, they all have to then take a pay hit as well -- and good luck trying to make any financial decisions when your pay fluctuates like that.

    69. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by virtualXTC · · Score: 1

      When is the last time you negotiated prices at the grocery store?

      Well since the Reddit is the one forking over the money, their proposed model doesn't match grocery shopping either: "When was the last time you got to the checkout register and refused to buy products until the merchant agreed to your pricing?"

    70. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Immerman · · Score: 1

      You think we don't already? Granted, it's often called "not getting a cost-of-living adjustment in line with inflation", but if your paycheck is worth 5% less than last year it doesn't much matter whether the numbers have changed or not.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    71. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have yet to figure out a way to directly compare two programmers's output.

    72. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course there are other options as well to try to get the best of both worlds - transparent salaries for one: put everybodies salary on their name plaque and you'll get a lot of disgruntled workers if you let Frank' superior haggling skills earn him a substantial pay raise, despite him being the office slacker.

      How is having a lot of disgruntled workers the best of both worlds? You seem to describe what I imagine would happen perfectly - people will be pissed at the discrepancies they perceive, and there is no fix as everyone's perception will be different.

    73. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Lamps · · Score: 1

      When is the last time you negotiated prices at the grocery store?

      Every time you buy something at the grocery store, you are negotiating that item's price. If you refuse to buy an item because it's overpriced, the company that manufactures that item has the choice to either lower the price, try to market to a demographic that's willing to pay a higher price, or to attempt to keep selling an item at a price point at which the item won't sell.

      By buying or not buying an item, you help determine demand for that item, thereby, setting its price. Basic stuff. Same set of principles applies to the labor market.

      A few things about the reddit situation:

      - reddit's staff will become less talented over time, as long as this policy persists, until they find some talent-price equilibrium that reflects reddit's salary policy.

      - the CEO that implemented this policy will not suffer financially for doing so. However, it is likely that the talent of reddit's staff will decrease over time, and may result in her premature dismissal, possibly with an overly generous golden parachute.

      - this salary policy has only a tenuous connection, if any, to the issue of women and men receiving an equal salary for equal labor. If reddit's CEO is not an absolute fool, the gender equality explanation is a rationalization intended to make an ill-conceived cost-cutting measure more palatable. If reddit's CEO is sincere in her explanation for this move, the board should remove her (and other companies should avoid her), because she does not understand certain fundamental labor market principles.

      Here's another prediction: reddit will not save as much money as they think they will, because their HR department will be forced to dedicate more time to efforts to acquire adequate talent.

    74. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by mamatigre · · Score: 1

      Has none of you ever worked for local or state government or large corporations where there is a set salary scale for jobs? Outside of the tech bubble, where are all salaries negotiable. If the salaries at Reddit don't match those at other companies, workers will go elsewhere. And it is not all women or just women who either don't negotiate or who are poor at negotiating.

    75. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I negotiate prices at grocery stores all the time by shopping at the store that will give me the better overall price.

    76. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why else do you think they want all these H1-B's? To keep salaries down. If there was a true labor shortage in the tech industry we'd see rising salaries and billboards on the highway advertising for jobs with everyone from MOM's Webdesign and Robot Oil to MicroFaceAPPL and that is not happening so therefore there is no labor shortage.

    77. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by eric_harris_76 · · Score: 1

      As I recall, she's an attorney.

      And I'm pretty sure attorneys are not strangers to negotiation.

      --
      There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.
    78. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It has everything to do with market prices being an agreement between two parties. That is haggling. Just because you're wrong doesn't mean you get to act all pissy about it.

    79. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When is the last time you negotiated prices at the grocery store? Yes, there are places where you can do so, but the prices then get determined almost entirely by the relative skill of the hagglers, rather than the actual value of the merchandise. "Market pricing" is an almost completely unrelated phenomena determined by the intersection of supply and demand curves for commodity-scale trading.

      Of course there are other options as well to try to get the best of both worlds - transparent salaries for one: put everybodies salary on their name plaque and you'll get a lot of disgruntled workers if you let Frank' superior haggling skills earn him a substantial pay raise, despite him being the office slacker.

      I agree, I think the *real* problem with salaries is that everyone thinks their own salary has to be private, just to avoid the awkward conversation of why Frank is making more than Julia.

    80. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by Cute+Fuzzy+Bunny · · Score: 1

      No, the problem is that women don't negotiate. I hired hundreds of people in my professional career. Not one woman ever negotiated the salary, every single man did. I always thought that was odd. Usually it was just "How about a little more on the salary?". We often ended up beefing up the offer by 5-10%. After working at dozens of companies from small startups to megacorps, I never saw anything in the salary offer matrix that involved whether we were offering to a man or a woman. On both coasts. I didn't have anyone turn down a job either. I've often thought of this as the primary reason behind women making less than men, rather any organized intention to pay less. We always factored in experience, education, what the new job entailed vs their former job, prior salary and what we were paying people who already worked for us in similar jobs. Not sex or age or anything else like that.

      The problem here as I see it is that people perform dozens of negotiations every day in a professional environment. Everything from meeting times to who gets to run a project. If you won't even try to ask for a little more money when its your payment for your primary livelihood and you need someone to take salary negotiations out of the job prospecting business, I don't think good things come about as a result.

      I suspect that reddit is going to get a steady stream of wimpy people afraid of negotiating, both men and women. Unintended consequences...

    81. Re:Is negotiation a skill required for the job? by QRDeNameland · · Score: 1

      +1, Yup.

      --
      Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
  60. "Reddit must suck already for women" by tlambert · · Score: 2

    "Reddit must suck already for women"

    It does.

    Oh! You meant the company, not the site! My bad!

    It does.

  61. Or maybe by Livius · · Score: 1

    It's all a plot to push down everyone's salaries. The anti-sexism public relations bit is just a happy coincidence.

    1. Re:Or maybe by ruir · · Score: 1

      Anti? You would better read it again. Talking and having bias agains ANY gender is sexism. Or is is only sexism when it is from men against women? Maybe Oxford should fix their dictionaries ...

    2. Re:Or maybe by Livius · · Score: 1

      Public relations is not the same as reality.

    3. Re:Or maybe by ruir · · Score: 1

      Great PR. Sod off all the male workers, I just want females here, said in a "PR way", you say. Great PR. Are you an idiot or a moron?

  62. A modest proposal for equal pay for title... by tlambert · · Score: 2

    A modest proposal for equal pay for title...

    How about you allow them to negotiate from a base from which the position is set.

    If they negotiate less high than everyone else who has negotiated, you give them the highest rate previously negotiated.

    If the negotiate higher than the previous high, everyone gets a raise.

    Solves the same problem, doesn't it?

    1. Re:A modest proposal for equal pay for title... by Shados · · Score: 1

      Its so much more complicated than that. Roles and skill levels vary so much, along with the market itself, that the last rate previously negotiated may just not apply at all (right now, it would almost always be below unless you're hiring someone every other day).

  63. Which is a problem with interviews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You say this like it means self marketing is required for the job, rather than just the interview, this is why interviews are a bad way of hiring people! You get the most confident, not competent, the most convincing, not the most skilled, and the most fearless / the best at lies, not the most trustworthy.

    Of course we do not really have a better way, but making the bias worse is not a good strategy.

  64. Ellen Pao is an idiot by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

    Ellen Pao is either lying about her motivation by attempting to underpay her workforce, or perhaps she is just an idiot. When she says, "Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate," she is first being sexist, then undermining her own credibility as a policy setter within the company. First off, it is blatantly and horribly sexist to make a ludicrous blanket comment like that when she claims to be striving for equality. To then admit that her underlings might penalize women for negotiating for themselves is an admission of failure.

    That, or she is simply looking for an excuse to refuse to negotiate in good faith, thus making it easier to underpay everyone across the board (and miss out on valuable talent, of course). What a load of crap, which should not be unexpected considering this is Reddit we are discussing, I guess.

    --
    This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    1. Re:Ellen Pao is an idiot by ruir · · Score: 1

      Amen that I am not the only one recognising sexism when I see it.

  65. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    WTF is 'progressive'? Do you mean as in the 'Progressive era' when people like Magaret Sanger were promoting eugenics?

  66. Pao = Sexist by uncqual · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Men negotiate harder than women do

    Is this because woman are unable to negotiate as hard? Because they are unwilling to? Because they are too stupid to? What is her explanation? Is it hormonal? Does it have to do with having different body mass distribution? Inquiring minds want to know.

    If it's to their advantage to negotiate hard and men and women are indistinguishable professionally, women obviously are just as able to negotiate hard (and, given negotiations I've been in, I have no reason to doubt they are not just as capable at this art).

    Pao is really insulting women by saying this.

    This really opens a Pandora's box. If she thinks women, by virtue of being female, are not as good at this important aspect of professional life, one wonders what other parts of their professional lives women are not as good at. She should give us a complete list - who knows what might be on it.

    I wonder what would happen if she ran a purchasing organization or a sales organization. Usually the willingness and capability to negotiate effectively (and, therefore, hard) are basic job requirements for these positions. Would she refuse to hire women because, as she has stated, they are not as good at negotiating hard (ouch, there's a sexual discrimination lawsuit waiting to happen)? Would she refuse to negotiate salary and lose the very people who would negotiate effectively on behalf of her company? In reality, negotiation is always a part of almost any senior job -- you have to negotiate for headcount, resources, approval for projects, even convincing a customer that they don't need something is "negotiating".

    Perhaps she has realized that she (the individual, not the gender) is not good at negotiating and this is a convenient way to avoid acknowledging this reality.

    Perhaps she doesn't realize that no party to a successful negotiation goes away unhappy - does she lack confidence in herself and her own staff being able to negotiate successfully?

    If Reddit has a candidate they really want and offers them $180K and they get an offer from another company for $200K (assuming similar fringe benefits and option valuations), how is it good for the company to walk away from the candidate instead of negotiate? Both $180K and $200K may be "fair" offers. Just because her company didn't happen to guess precisely what the FMV was for the person will she really stubbornly refuse to negotiate and start over from ground zero in trying to fill the position (which will likely cost tens of thousands of dollars in staff time and more tens of thousands of dollars in delay in filling the opening)?

    I also assume that if the board offers, unwisely, to keep her on as permanent CEO and she wants a better offer than they gave her, she will understand when she when the board says "sorry, we don't negotiate and since you don't appear happy with our offer and we want a CEO who is happy with their situation, we retract the offer -- don't let the door hit your ass on the way out".

    --
    Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
    1. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1, Informative

      Is this because woman are unable to negotiate as hard? Because they are unwilling to? Because they are too stupid to? What is her explanation? Is it hormonal? Does it have to do with having different body mass distribution? Inquiring minds want to know.

      It's cultural. In general, men who negotiate are considered confident, whereas women who do are considered bitchy. This provides a negative incentive for women to negotiate, which then becomes ingrained.

    2. Re:Pao = Sexist by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      More like women are more comfortable with the "fairness" culture in which "everyone is a winner", you can run a nursery school like this, but the real world does not tolerate fools.

    3. Re:Pao = Sexist by uncqual · · Score: 1

      So, simply tell all applicants, in writing, that the company expects candidates to negotiate salary and benefits and doing so responsibly and effectively yet aggressively is considered a promising sign of a good candidate.

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
    4. Re:Pao = Sexist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's evolution:

      Male A took many risks and died.
      Male B took many risks and fathered 80 kids.
      Male C a couple risks and fathered 4 kids.
      Male D a couple risks and fathered 2 kids.
      Male E didn't take any risks yet fathered 1 kid.
      Male F didn't take any risks and fathered no kids.
      Results: 80 kids slightly more prone to risk taking, 6 kids neutral, 1 kid with lowered amounts of risk taking.
      Next Generation: 80+ vs 6= vs 1-

      Female A took many risks and died.
      Female B took many risks and mothered 5 kids.
      Female C took a couple risks and mothered 4 kids.
      Female D took a couple risks and mothered 3 kids.
      Female E didn't take any risks yet mothered 3 kid.
      Female F didn't take any risks and mothered no kids.
      Results: 5 kids slightly more print to risk taking, 7 neutral, and 3 kid at a lower risk taking level.
      Next Generation: 5+, 7=, 3-

      It doesn't pay off for females to take risks. They can only have so many kids in their lifetime. However the same isn't true of males. Evolution rewards males that take risks because the payoffs can be vast. For females, the ones that don't take risks contribute just as much, if not more so, then the ones that do take risks. For males, the ones that take more risks contribute significantly more than the ones that don't.

      You can view negotiating for salary changes as taking a risk. Even if there are cultural reasons, biology is influencing them behind the scenes.

    5. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      If most of the time when you tried to do something to better your situation you got negative reinforcement, then avoiding that behaviour is not foolish. It's how people work.

    6. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      You can't undo years and years of conditioning with a letter.

    7. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      Ahh, evolutionary psychology. The "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" of the behavioural explanations.

      I especially like how you used it to write off my point, even though my explanation is directly observable. Also, independently verifiable (though I'm not aware of this having been done, tbh.)

    8. Re:Pao = Sexist by visualight · · Score: 1

      What you say is true. But the poster you replied to is also quite correct --and the truth is more important than any social agenda, no matter how righteous it may be.

      --
      Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
    9. Re:Pao = Sexist by visualight · · Score: 1

      The fuck you can't. You absolutely can. This conditioning you continually speak of is no more than a bad habit and doesn't even put a dent in the normal humans intellect.

      --
      Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
    10. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      No, you can't. You can using other methods, but you'd also have to remove the negative conditioning in the first place, which won't be easy. Those other methods aren't likely to be easy and will probably take time. But just putting something in writing is not nearly enough.

    11. Re:Pao = Sexist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's the outcome.
      Men will accept the result of the negotiations. Women will bitch about it.

    12. Re:Pao = Sexist by paradigm82 · · Score: 1

      I completely agree. I think it might not be as much that women lack the "core skill" og negotiation. Women are generally perceived as good in social situations.
      I think it is much like a choice of attitude. I think it is generally agreed that overall women are not as risk-taking as men. Negotiating pay involves risk - it involves the risk of being turned down, og giving a bad impression of yourself. Of course it also involves benefits, namely a higher pay. This is of course especially true if done wrong. At any rate its an extra effort compared to just blindly accepting the deal you get.
      For this reason, I don't think there's any wrong in people negotiating potentially getting a higher pay - be it men or women. It's a personal choice whether you want to run that risk or not. Given the nature of markets, there's nothing strange about individuals being able to earn more by taking on more risk or doing an extra effort. In fact it seems unavoidable.
      Given my experience with HR departments etc. I think it is pretty obvious that the "offer" Reddit is going to give is highly unlikely to match the individuals skills. IT is an area where higher skills can give extreme multiples in added productivity, even though this is never shown at the pay slip. So it is notoriously difficult to value someone based on just average tables based on years of eduction, experience etc. Often the true value of an employee can only be assessed some time after hiring. This is where negotiation comes in (and here I'm also talking about post-hiring salary adjustments) , because it allows the higher skilled workers to try and get some compensation for the greatly added productivity they bring, beyond what the "averages" indicate. If Reddit eliminates this aspect, they will either have to give up hiring from this pool (because their initial offers are only around average and everyone knows negotiation isn't possible) or they will have to give very high initial offers, meaning they will overpay a lot of people.
      Of the two alternatives, the latter is the safest since you can always get rid of those who you turned out to be overpaying, whereas if the initial offer is too low, you are never going to see the top talent at all.
      But besides from that - isn't Reddit just a trivial news web site? It's hardly a technological marvel, any semi-skilled person could quickly code up something like that. I suspect it was done only by a few people initially. Then a few truly skilled people are required to scale it up to handle the high load, but that's it. 5-6 good developers ought to be enough. I don't know how many employees they have, wouldn't be surprised it's in thousands given they have poor enough owners/mangement to higher Ellen Pao as CEO.

    13. Re:Pao = Sexist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm getting sick of this lame argument.

      It is a load of horse shit. It, in itself, is a discriminatory statement against women.

      Because, I hate to break this to you -- you don't see men putting up with societal limitations that limit them in a bad way. When was the last time you heard of people saying that men are disadvantaged, because society makes them do things they don't want? Or, that they put up with it for long.

      Take this continual, constant stream of 'men are evil' crap that's been thrust down people's throats for the last 4 decades. You don't see most men putting up with it, most will speak up against it. And, if it goes too far?

      Men will STOP it, by force if needed.

      Yet, according to the theocratic statement you've quoted, women apparently are weak pathetic creatures -- that can be forced to do whatever their overloads desire, merely by peer pressure.

      So, it's one way or the other. Either women are inferior at standing up for themselves, and/or unable to break free of social programming as easily as men -- or, women are NOT ingrained to certain behaviours.

      IT IS NOT BOTH!

    14. Re:Pao = Sexist by bsolar · · Score: 1

      Is this assumption based on something more than your personal opinion? Maybe men negotiating better is the reason they are seen as confident and women negotiating not so well is the reason they are seena s bitchy. You know, "It's cultural" sounds suspiciusly like "there is a convenient excuse which shifts the blame away from the women for their subpar performance".

    15. Re:Pao = Sexist by visualight · · Score: 1

      No, it's all bullshit. There's a lot of talking and propaganda around these ideas but when you start peeling it apart it's just layers and layers of circular citations and dubious studies by (professional) social "scientists" ( yes, I do think we should go back to calling it social "studies" ). It wouldn't even be a thing except it's repeated often and loudly by entrenched, tenured activists in universities.

      Yes, telling people to negotiate is absolutely enough to break this HABIT(yeah, this conditioning idea is a flat out lie). People who have never bartered for anything, and moreover have never even witnessed bartering take place make the adjustment on their first day in a new country. Go ahead explain how this is "different" and somehow not "conditioning".

      The real problem is the people with a disproportionately loud voice telling us that we're all brainwashed and incapable of owning our lives and our minds --who then propose to fix it with their own brand of brainwashing that suits their own selfish agenda.

      --
      Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
    16. Re:Pao = Sexist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Men negotiate harder than women do

      Is this because woman are unable to negotiate as hard? Because they are unwilling to? Because they are too stupid to? What is her explanation? Is it hormonal? Does it have to do with having different body mass distribution? Inquiring minds want to know.

      Science does not need to show the reason why something happens to determine if it does or not.

    17. Re:Pao = Sexist by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      It's cultural. In general, men who negotiate are considered confident, whereas women who do are considered bitchy. This provides a negative incentive for women to negotiate, which then becomes ingrained.

      The place to fix this is not at the employee level, by taking away their right to negotiate. The place to fix this is at the HR level, by firing them if they discriminate. Or, of course, the manager level. That, however, would require actually managing employees, and most managers don't really do that. They just dodge responsibility and fire people when they become inconvenient because they don't know how to manage them.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    18. Re:Pao = Sexist by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Men negotiate harder than women do

      Is this because woman are unable to negotiate as hard? Because they are unwilling to? Because they are too stupid to? What is her explanation? Is it hormonal? Does it have to do with having different body mass distribution? Inquiring minds want to know.

      Have you tried reading the second half of the sentence?

      'Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate,'

      Men negotiating hard is seen as being strong, effective and motivated. When negotiating hard are often seen as being bitchy, pushy, bossy, high maintenance and various other negative stereotypes.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re:Pao = Sexist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Men negotiating hard is seen as being strong, effective and motivated. When negotiating hard are often seen as being bitchy, pushy, bossy, high maintenance and various other negative stereotypes.

      By teenage sperglords and beta crypto-chauvinists like yourself maybe. The rest of the population doesn't understand the world through the cartoon stereotypes you live by.

      Stop projecting your prejudices onto innocent people.

    20. Re:Pao = Sexist by Theaetetus · · Score: 1

      Men negotiate harder than women do

      Is this because woman are unable to negotiate as hard? Because they are unwilling to? Because they are too stupid to? What is her explanation? Is it hormonal? Does it have to do with having different body mass distribution? Inquiring minds want to know.

      It's impressive that you got a several hundred word post out of failure to read the rest of a sentence. The full quote was:

      "Pao told with the Wall Street Journal Monday that the plan would help level the playing field. 'Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate,' she said.

      Women tend to be penalized for negotiating, so women have learned not to negotiate very hard. It has to do with hormones or body mass as you are actually an "inquiring mind", which is to say not at all.

    21. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      This is because men have been conditioned that it's OK to stand up for things like that/haven't been conditioned that it's not OK, whichever way you want to see it.

      There are plenty of things that men have been conditioned against: holding hands with other men (it's very common in India), being overly emotional. These are just two off the top of my head. You just don't see them because they're "normal."

      Yet, according to the theocratic statement you've quoted, women apparently are weak pathetic creatures

      Don't put words in my mouth.

    22. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      http://www.wisebread.com/why-w...

      It didn't take much googling to find similar examples.

    23. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      What you said to do will not work. It's weird to think it even will. It's like you're expecting everyone to become a rational actor with a tiny push, which is not going to happen.

    24. Re:Pao = Sexist by Eythian · · Score: 1

      The place to fix this is not at the employee level, by taking away their right to negotiate. The place to fix this is at the HR level, by firing them if they discriminate.

      But, if one group of people is less willing to negotiate, discrimination from HR doesn't come into it really. You can't force people to negotiate.

      I think you're right that it shouldn't have to be fixed at the employee level, I just can't really see another place that'd work (I'm no expert though.)

    25. Re:Pao = Sexist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You DO need to explain how it happens to make a conclusion about the causation, however.

      Here you claim that women are penalised for negotiating because of? Well if you're saying sexism, you need to explain why the penalising is taking place. It could be because women negotiate on different things and get those, therefore are being greedy when they negotiate for higher salary as well, whereas men negotiate on salary by offering other service in exchange and aren't therefore being greedy.

      It could be that your definition of penalised is causing the appearance of penalisation. What if you're talking about *success* and a lack of success is being labelled "penalised"?

      Science really really REALLY is all about explaining the reason for things happening. That you have to prove that thing happens is a pre-requisite, but that doesn't make science anything other than explaining WHY that happened, not THAT it happened.

  67. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

    Indeed Sweet Meteor of Death is leading in the straw polls
    https://twitter.com/smod2016

    Not sure about his domestic policy but his foreign policy is top notch.

  68. yeah, right! by superwiz · · Score: 1

    "Take it or leave it" is a negotiating tactic. She's perfectly within her rights to negotiate in this manner. However, if she attempts to as much as encourage any other company to follow her lead on this, it would immediately become a collusion against employees and an illegal anti-competitive tactic. Oh, and, btw, do the employees actually get to collect that salary? Or do they have to spend it "at the company store"?

    --
    Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
  69. nothing to see move along by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    because she is a degenerate liberal! what do you expect! the end of america!

  70. Next she'll ban urinals by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

    since men are better at standing to pee.

    1. Re:Next she'll ban urinals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      since men are better at standing to pee.

      You jest, but in feminist controlled Sweden silly shit like that has seriously been proposed.

      The UK is less overran by Social Justice Warriors, but their insane propositions thrive there as well. Canada, being more "sensitive" and thus easier to manipulate through claims of offense is the USA's canary. If you want to see what the SJW politics will look like in the USA in a few years see Canada. If you want to see what it will look like when the SocJus horde is through with their invasion then shudder as you watch this video.

  71. Reddit employs only about 75 people; who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It will only affect what, 4 or 5 new hires. That policy is for Ellen Pao to make a show about women's rights, which is good in itself, they have been trampled on for thousands of years, but worthy of pointing out what's really happening, because the summary never does.

  72. Yeah, this is going to work well by russotto · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How does this work? Does Reddit give the same offer to all employees for a given job title? If so, and they make a single offer better than the market initial offer, they'll be paying non-negotiators more than they have to, and losing the best negotiators. This is likely to be costly.

    If they make the same offers they made before this policy, they'll lose negotiators to other companies. If negotiation is correlated with skill this is a loss; otherwise, it could be a loss or a win.

    If they make an individualized offer to each employee, negotiation will happen anyway; it'll just happen without explicit haggling. Candidates will try to signal that they'd require a lot to accept, in order to get a higher offer. I'd bet that candidates who would negotiate are probably better at that kind of signaling.

    1. Re:Yeah, this is going to work well by uncqual · · Score: 1

      Indeed, knowing this policy, good candidates are likely to open with an absurdly high "salary requirement" since the final offer will, by policy, be the first round in what is normally a multiple round discussion.

      The idea of "no negotiating" might be good, but it's not how our employment market for most "professional" jobs works so it's foolish to be a leader in it unless you are an 800lb gorilla that everyone wants to work for -- esp. for this reason.

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
    2. Re:Yeah, this is going to work well by Kagato · · Score: 1

      It's a bit akin to the CarMax approach.

      Long and short of this is we're not going to know how well this works (or doesn't) for at least a year.

  73. NO! by s.petry · · Score: 1

    Because this is the epitome of a communism? I really have no idea what to attribute her stupid statement to, so picked an easy target. All offense is intended at her, not you.

    What she just did is claimed that everyone magically has the same abilities, experiences, and knowledge to draw from. That is the only possible way to claim that there is no reason to ever negotiate salaries. A side effect of this will be that nobody will want to work for her, except out of desperation of course. What she will be able to hire are 40 hour a week clock watchers who stick to their job profile at their own pace. Again, that is the only type of person that wants to work for a non-negotiated salary. Factory workers.

    Let me go further and state that this is where the whole "everyone should get equal money" argument falls down on it's face. On average women make the same or more money PER HOUR WORKED as a man for the same job. The statistics tossed around consider all people working the same amount of hours and the same amount of work. The statistics also neglect the fact that some jobs which are considered high risk simply lack interest by females, so for this equal pay thing to work all jobs must be paid an identical wage. That is right, a clerk in the army should make the same pay as a Navy Seal, and a PHD should make the same wage as the Walmart clerk.

    In short words, I am betting this is another fabrication.. just like her claim that she was passed over for discriminatory reasons. Everything I read from this person is venomous trash, and it's really sad that the paid for media treats her opinion as more valid than countering opinions from well known rational feminists Karen Straughan. Pao is as the KGB used to say, nothing more than a useful idiot (I'll let you go figure out the meaning of that, it's a fun journey).

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:NO! by msauve · · Score: 2

      "What she just did is claimed that everyone magically has the same abilities, experiences, and knowledge to draw from."

      Actually, what she's doing is saying that even if there are differences, they shouldn't be allowed to matter. I don't think she should be allowed to discriminate on any basis (including education, knowledge, ability, etc.), so suggest that Reddit should simply hire for all positions by simply drawing names from a hat, so any difference between applicants doesn't effect the outcome.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:NO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let me go further and state that this is where the whole "everyone should get equal money" argument falls down on it's face. On average women make the same or more money PER HOUR WORKED as a man for the same job. The statistics tossed around consider all people working the same amount of hours and the same amount of work.

      I'm moved by the number of impartial and non-anecdotal citations you use to support your argument.

    3. Re:NO! by s.petry · · Score: 1

      The optimistic view as opposed to the pessimistic view is fair, though I feel I should point out that it is two sides of the same coin with the same value. I would agree if she dropped her salary and perks to be the same as the lowest person on the payroll for the company she is CEO of. That would be fair and true equality. Funny how these people tend to not want "real" equality so argue invalid arguments.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    4. Re:NO! by s.petry · · Score: 1

      I provided numerous logical points, and am equally moved by your inability to argue my points. Hence, you feign that logic based on facts you could discover on your own are invalidated somehow without providing sources. That said, I will go as far as informing you that I found a tremendous amount of posts proving that the numbers cited by extremist feminists are wrong, and even provided a link to a well done video full of facts discounting the arguments about wage inequality. The content is from a PHD, and he cites all of his statistics. He has another well researched piece about the "rape culture" fabrication as well.

      In other words, discounting the bullshit is not that difficult. You, and your ilk, simply refuse to do any work.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    5. Re:NO! by ArsonSmith · · Score: 1

      She is already the lowest paid CEO currently in the company.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    6. Re:NO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I provided numerous logical points, and am equally moved by your inability to argue my points. Hence, you feign that logic based on facts you could discover on your own are invalidated somehow without providing sources. That said, I will go as far as informing you that I found a tremendous amount of posts proving that the numbers cited by extremist feminists are wrong, and even provided a link to a well done video full of facts discounting the arguments about wage inequality. The content is from a PHD, and he cites all of his statistics. He has another well researched piece about the "rape culture" fabrication as well.

      In other words, discounting the bullshit is not that difficult. You, and your ilk, simply refuse to do any work.

      So your response to ""No citations?" is... no citation...

      Instead, you chose to say there are tons of people on the Internet who are wrong about X. No shit. People are wrong about all kinds of stuff. I can find a site that says the earth is flat too. It's not, in my opinion, credible. So where is your credible, peer reviewed, statistical, unbiased source for the $/time is equal claim?

      No where? That's what the "SJW"'s thought. Oh, and you don't have to be an ass, I happened to ask because I would like to cite it if its actually credible because I happen to find uninformed idiots on both sides to be idiots.

    7. Re:NO! by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      Karen Straughn is an MRA, and a staunch anti-feminist.

      I don't know if that changes your opinion of her, or will change your quoting of what she says (though that particular fact is touted by equity feminist Christina Hoff Sommers as well), but let's at least be honest about who we're dealing with here.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    8. Re:NO! by s.petry · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure you meant this as humor, but just in case. I stated that true equality would reduce her pay to that of the lowest paid "employee", not the lowest paid CEO.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    9. Re:NO! by s.petry · · Score: 1

      You refuse (once again) to read a thread in which you are posting to find links to your alleged required citations. To further display your unwillingness to actually debate a subject you change what I said "read this thread" to "search the internet".

      The conversation ends when you start inventing statements and cherry picking fragments to make irrational claims. Troll elsewhere.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    10. Re:NO! by s.petry · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I frigged up that whole sentence if you didn't realize it. My copy/paste of her name blew out a chunk.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    11. Re:NO! by LaurenCates · · Score: 1

      Eh, I never know for sure when it comes to conversations like this, so I'm sorry if my tone was a little cheeky.

      --
      Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
    12. Re:NO! by s.petry · · Score: 1

      Your tone was fine, I deserve a bit of abuse for not proof reading before hitting submit. I know better and was lazy :)

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  74. this might be scourged earth by superwiz · · Score: 0

    She might be trying to burn down the company (because she will scare away the best people who know their worth). Then she'll get to make the argument that Reddit went bankrupt because "the all boy's club" of tech companies (or bankers) ganged up on her to destroy her for "exposing the male-dominated culture."

    --
    Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    1. Re:this might be scourged earth by uncqual · · Score: 1

      Hmm.. That's a possibility, but I'm not clear who she would sue at a bankrupt company with no remaining assets.

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
    2. Re:this might be scourged earth by superwiz · · Score: 1

      She lost the (bias claiming) law suit against the investing VC firm. This would give her leverage to demand hush money.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    3. Re:this might be scourged earth by uncqual · · Score: 1

      But, why would anyone who actually had money offer hush money? What am I missing?

      Once it's clear that Reddit is toast, the creditors own it and recover pennies on the dollar by selling the coffee machines. As an interim CEO, it's unlikely she has a golden parachute (although, I would respect her more if she had figured out how to negotiate a temp job w/a golden parachute -- but she asserts that women are not good at hard negotiations so I am unclear how that would happen).

      I suppose one scenario is that Reddit sells for pennies on the dollar to a Yahoo! et al. However, the board will make that call and, as interim CEO, she probably gets 30 days notice and is out and done.

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
    4. Re:this might be scourged earth by superwiz · · Score: 1

      If she burns down Reddit, she gets to make a public argument that the creditors made her a target because she took on a cause. She gets to drag VC firm's name through the mud of public opinion and put them in jeopardy of public hysteria outrage (divestment campaigns, etc.) In order to avoid this jeopardy, she hopes the firm will offer her a cushy contract (ie, hush money) in which they severely overpay for some of her property, services, etc. in exchange for her declaring that "things have changed a lot since she was made a target" or something to that effect.

      --
      Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
  75. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eventually the Republicans are going to kill us all. All they have to do is succeed once. Just once, and we're dead. By claiming labor has no right to negotiate, that hateful Republican is pushing us back to feudal times. They want feudal times. That is how they do. You're right that they hate us. This proves they want us to never make progress against their attacks. This keeps us down. With this, there's no damn point to even trying.

    You're a fcking idiot. She's a leftist, almost certainly a Obama loving moron. s/Republican/Democrat/g

  76. Can't win. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If she had said women are better negotiators, critics would say she's a female supremacist.

    But she said -- not she, actually, this isn't anecdotal, there is evidence for this difference -- that women are not as good at negotiating, so you, a critic, say it's sexist.

    It doesn't matter what a feminist says; critics will always not like it.

    1. Re:Can't win. by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "It doesn't matter what a feminist says; critics will always not like it."

      Unless properly measured and sufficient evidence thrown, any "women this while men that" *is* sexist by its very definition.

      Even more: even if properly measured and sufficient evidence thrown, any "women this while men that, so let's be it" without an analysis on why it is so and why it shouldn't need to be changed is still sexist.

    2. Re: Can't win. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or maybe they can say everyone is equal... You stupid motherfucker.

    3. Re:Can't win. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because she's femsplaining, explaining to other people why they feel a certain way and should feel bad because her patr..er, because misogyny. Naturally everything once filtered through logic seems sexist then

  77. Should sexist opensource developers,,, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Should sexist opensource developers have their projects censored or removed?

    Recently an opensource game release story was removed due to the game developer's open sexism(0) and harrasment(1) of women in tech.

    A story posted by the editor of the popular Phoronix linux news site about a release of an Open Source videogame was later manually removed(2). The reason cited was the game developer's unacceptable views on social issues such as gender equality (3).

    The release story was titled "Xonotic-Forked ChaosEsqueAnthology Sees New Release - Phoronix" and can be accessed via the google cache(4).

    With the recent inclusion of a code of conduct(5) for those wishing to contribute to the Linux Kernel some questions now need to be asked and answered about the inclusion of code from people who are known to engage in or promote socially unacceptable attitudes or harrasments of those whom the free-software movement would prefer to attract in their place:

    * Are the social or political views of an author of free software relevant to that software's inherent quality?
    * Should the beliefs of an opensource developer weigh when when evaluating whether a piece of opensource software is worthy of any publicity or public notice?
    * Should men with unpopular or "forbidden" views be excised from the opensource movement and "not allowed" to contribute, in a manner similar to that which is done in employment?
    * Has the free/opensource software movement changed in these respects since its founding? If so is this a positive change?
    * Should there be gatekeepers to opensource that decide who may and who may not contribute. Should abusive developers be "blackballed" to maintain proper social order and controls?

    and

    * What are the consequences of not doing this

    Citations:
    (0) Past related incident: http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=1310
    (1) http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/...
    (2) Removed story URL: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.p...
    (3) http://www.phoronix.com/forums...
    "Fortunately, the article has been removed now."
    "Thanks everybody for speaking up."
    (4) https://webcache.googleusercon...
    (5) Linux "Code of Conflict"

  78. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Really? She sounds more like a Democrat to me. I thought the mantra of the Democrat party was equality through mediocrity?

    Are you really that stupid?

    The (modern) Democratic Party is socially progressive and economically centrist, not communist. They advocate a progressive approach, aka, social security and safety net, increased taxes on the wealthy, tax-cuts for the low and middle class, increased minimum wage, modernized public education, universal health care (and many want single-payer), infrastructure investment, STEM investment, defense cuts, student loan reforms, and equal pay for equal work, among other policies...

    And the go an do the opposite once elected. Things like the ACA ended up benefiting the insurance companies more than anyone.

  79. Her opinion is men negotiate better than women? by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

    Where did she get that idea? It doesn't take testosterone to negotiate. She's a victim of her own sexism.

  80. No, it's not. by s.petry · · Score: 0

    Let me link you to a nice video full of charts and graphs showing how full of shit that statement is. This way, you don't even need to read the information. It's well researched, and better than I would do in a Slashdot post. After you are proven wrong will you stop claiming a bullshit number? Probably not, but I figured I'd ask.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  81. Sometimes it does hurt to ask by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Since this is a bit buried and you seem genuinely inquisitive I repost -

    paper title -
    Social incentives for gender dfferences in the propensity to initiate negotiations: Sometimes it does hurt to ask
    Abstract -
    Four experiments show that gender differences in the propensity to initiate negotiations may be explained by differential treat-ment of men and women when they attempt to negotiate. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants evaluated written accounts of candidates who did or did not initiate negotiations for higher compensation. Evaluators penalized female candidates more than male candidates for initiating negotiations. In Experiment 3, participants evaluated videotapes of candidates who accepted compensation offers or initiated negotiations. Male evaluators penalized female candidates more than male candidates for initiating negotiations; female evaluators penalized all candidates for initiating negotiations. Perceptions of niceness and demandingness explained reistance to female negotiators. In Experiment 4, participants adopted the candidate’s perspective and assessed whether to initiate negotiations in same scenario used in Experiment 3. With male evaluators, women were less inclined than men to negotiate, and nervousness explained this effect. There was no gender difference when evaluator was female.

    link
    https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/cfawis/bowles.pdf

    1. Re:Sometimes it does hurt to ask by uncqual · · Score: 2

      She shouldn't be hiring managers who would fault someone for initiating negotiations. I, for example, begin to have second doubts about anyone who doesn't do so. What are the odds that I would start with the exact highest amount I was willing to pay? I certainly want employees (engineers in particular) who use logic and probability in their reasoning and recognize that.

      I also want employees that are good enough to have other options. First, it helps confirm that they may be good employees. Second, they tend not to hang around and become deadwood that I have to deal with when they are unhappy, instead they move on which benefits everyone if their desired growth path and what the company has to offer eventually don't intersect.

      Once I've made an offer, I expect the candidate to figure out that there's nothing to lose by negotiating -- the worst I can say is "I'm sorry, that's the best I can do". It's extremely rare for an offer to be withdrawn because of a reasonable and ethical attempt at negotiation.

      Indeed, sometimes my hands are tied by pay ranges -- but if the candidate brings a specific offer they got from another company and negotiates, I can sometimes bend these or at least get creative with a hiring bonus. Without such an offer, I can't justify it - esp. if their current pay is low for some reason.

      (Although, I've never responded to counteroffers from current employers and usually tell the candidate something like "Well, it's good to hear you're happy where you are and that you were just unhappy with your salary which has now been rectified. I wish you the best of luck". I don't actually withdraw the offer, but I hope they reject it and I certainly won't negotiate any further. I like employees which are decisive and stand up for themselves and those who play games like that are likely weak on both points.)

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
  82. This can actually work by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 4, Informative

    One of the big problems with salary negotiations is that inevitably everyone knows everyone else's paycheque. So if you find out that the guy sitting beside you doing the same job is earning way more then you just look at your paycheque as a biweekly insult.

    I worked for one company that paid its programmers a perfectly round number and everyone went up at the same time. But bonuses were far more complicated with a huge factor being voting among the employees. The company literally had a rule that if anyone discussed who they were voting for then it was an instant firing. This way the outstanding employees got massive bonuses.

    What was interesting was that when some people came to the end of their interviews they would begin negotiating their salary after being repeatedly told that it was not negotiable. The ones who pushed this harder and harder tended to be douchebags and this pretty much always resulted in no job offer or a withdrawn offer. They genuinely seemed pissed.

    One douche summed it up as "When I heard that everyone was earning X, I just had to earn X+1 so that I could prove I was better." This was even after he was told how the bonuses worked.

    The cool benefit of bonuses was that it really weeded out the crappy programmers. Bonus time would come along. The results would be published and a few guys had literally zero votes and usually they were gone in a month or less. The only programmer ever fired for talking about bonuses went around with a sob story how he needed the bonus. Literally the next day he no longer worked for the company. This is the same company that didn't fire people after one threw a laptop through a window with the intent of hitting another worker. (they worked out their issues).

    1. Re:This can actually work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >The company literally had a rule that if anyone discussed who they were voting for then it was an instant firing

      That violates federal law. You cannot prohibit employees from discussing salary.

    2. Re:This can actually work by uncqual · · Score: 1

      Did they publicly publish the votes (without, of course, the bonus information)?

      Actually, peer voting can be quite biased -- esp. when money is involved. I worked at a company where a pretty nice "perk" (not cash") was given out to a few percent of the employees based almost entirely on a company wide voting process. They had to change this to "management decision guided by employee voting feedback" because it was clear that some people were getting votes not because of their skills or contributions but because people felt sorry for their personal situation in some way.

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
    3. Re:This can actually work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What... what?

      Negotiating for salary does *not* result in everyone knowing exactly how much others make. It's the literal opposite, actually.

      Now, having everyone get paid exactly the same, and then voting on bonuses, and publishing those bonuses - or even just how many votes everyone got - achieves exactly that.

      On top of that, making employees vote on who gets a bonus is retarded. It rewards the employees who do highly visible but possibly trivial work over people who work on something that's not cool and shiny, but may be vastly more important; it's also a horrendous way to turn office politics up to 11.

      Your job sounds like a goddamn monkey zoo. Your post made me shudder. I sincerely hope this is just a really weird troll post.

    4. Re:This can actually work by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Sounds like an exploitative company. I prefer to get my worth up front and not rely on a popularity contest sometime later; as such I regard the bonus as simply a bonus that may or may not arrive and instead ensure that the offered salary passes my threshold.

      The worst time to negotiate your salary is *after* you start. After you start you'll hit the "It's company policy that all raises are capped to %X" rule. Before you start there is no "It's company policy that all salaries are capped to %X" rule (unless you interview at reddit, apparently).

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    5. Re:This can actually work by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 1

      Check out how Valve assigns its bonuses and you will find that there is more than one monkey zoo out there. The key reasoning here was to eliminate the concept of professional managers. If there are people who are able to control paycheques then they are managers. While this company had a few managers it was more of a supreme court for resolving disputes than someone who said, sit here, do this, you're late. The basic idea was that the inmates ran the asylum and those who couldn't contribute to this or caused trouble were soon voted off the island.

      A perfect example of this working was this one guy who used up his training budget becoming a "SCRUM Master" he then went around like some born again fool telling everyone how to do everything. His bonus about 2 months later was exactly zero and he basically rage quit.

    6. Re:This can actually work by oobayly · · Score: 1

      They're not, they're prohibiting discussing the purely discretionary bonus that the company awards to the employee in addition to their salary. (Semi-sarcasm, but it wouldn't surprise me if one was legal and the other was not). In the UK our [outsourced] HR lady specifically said that we didn't have to put our commission schemes in the [relevant] employee contracts, which fairly surprised me - I thought it would have to be documented.

  83. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds more liberal to me, as well. Little applied logic, and rewards the inept, or fails to reward the competent...
    "Negotiating" easily includes putting your best foot forward, and illustrating or providing information why you are worth taking seriously, or paying well.
    In other words, "good communication skills..." What's that? ANOTHER SKILL. Whoa.

    If you're going to generalize and say women are better or worse than men at something, then at least acknowledge it by paying less, or more, depending on the skill.

    What makes you think their negotiation skills will never benefit you after they're hired? My boss many years ago frequently made me negotiate lower-than-advertised rates for software and equipment. I f'ing hated every second of even thinking about it. But we got what we wanted... Several hundred dollars off of each purchase. I guess a woman couldn't have done it.

  84. bald by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone should just have to shave their heads so the bald men, non-bald men, and women are all equal.

  85. money in place of mouth. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have her most meager (smart, but shy as hell) employee male, or female, negotiate her next business deal. Advertising, a buyout of/from another company... Either way. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to send a pushover to the table because it's "MORE FAIR"

  86. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Democrat = Equality of Outcome (as evidenced by the assertion that %age population must equal %age in job role type equality) AKA Harrison Bergeron
    Republican = Equality of Opportunity (at least in theory the best person for the job gets the job and their color, gender, religion etc is irrelevant)

    I agree with you on your assertion that "Republican = Equality of Opportunity"

    But on the "Democrat = Equality of Outcome" I think it can use an update

    The Democrat party no longer cares about 'outcome' --- all they care about is entitlement

    Therefore, within the context that we are talking about, "Democrat = Equality of PAY " would be much more appropriate

  87. Better solution: Salary transparency by swb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There was a Planet Money story about this.

    A company decided to make everyone's salary open knowledge, posted on the wall for everyone to see.

    This would better solve gender pay equity than Pao's no-negotiation strategy. It puts more pressure on management to limit pay decisions to something defensable, prevents employees from pitting against each other for pay and minimizes management's ability to overpay or underpay. Employees know where they stand relative to other employees (and what they may need to do to make more). It motivates better paid employees to show they're worth it and makes it harder for well-paid employees to goldbrick.

    The problem with no-negotiation is that for any given hire there are a finite number of employees available to take the job and the best candidate is likely to either be a little better or a little worse than average. Without the ability to negotiate, the better candidates will be less inclined to take the job because it only offers average pay and the below average ones will be more likely to take the job because it pays above what they're worth. You'll end up trending towards below average talent for more than they're worth.

    Transparency allows for positioned to be negotiated for and if a given hire has an above average skillset and experience, you can agree to pay them more and won't have to worry about justifying it. The same is true the other way around -- it's justifiable to pay below average, too when you have legitimate reasons of skill or experience.

    Pao's strategy is right out of the socialist playbook -- arbitrary price controls, and it destroys the free market's ability to seek efficient pricing. This isn't a political complaint, but an economic one. Most current job markets with "secret" pay agreements now are also bad because they create an imbalance between seller and buyer by eliminating pricing information.

    It's also pretty sexist because it attributes a behavioral attribute to gender. I'm pretty sure Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, and other Fortune 500 CEOs don't have a negotiating weakness.

  88. Two words by e065c8515d206cb0e190 · · Score: 1

    sore loser

  89. Horrible Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does that mean that Reddit will accept the desired salary of the candidates? Or that the candidates must accept the offer given? Of course Reddit has taken the upper hand here [you take our number, no negotiation]. What about competing offers? What about vendors with female sales reps- will they not negotiate with them either? Customers?

    Negotiation is the process of arriving to an agreement based on information exchange (e.g. candidate quality, competing offers, market value, desired skillset, role and function). Very poorly thought out philosophy and plan ... she really is incompetent and should never have been considered for partner at KPCB.

    1. Re:Horrible Idea by Todd+Knarr · · Score: 2

      It may work out for candidates, though. Right now the company tends to start low and let the candidate name a higher figure, then go back and forth ending up somewhere in the middle. If their initial offer's too low the candidate will just name something higher, and unless the candidate's really cocky the company stands a good chance of getting them for less than they were willing to offer. With no negotiation the company knows there may well be competing offers out there so if they make their offer too low the candidate, knowing they can't negotiate, will probably walk away. Where before the company had an incentive to low-ball the offer and negotiate up, now they have an incentive to offer the most they'd be willing to pay this candidate to minimize the chance of losing the candidate to a competing offer.

      NB: this is also why companies try to get the candidate to give an expected salary first, knowing that that sets an upper limit and the candidate is caught between asking for as much as possible and keeping the salary down so the company doesn't decide it's more than they'll consider.

      I'd rather vendors worked the same way, give me their best price and I'll tell them whether it's within my budget or not. But then I'm a tech, not a salesman, I prefer to minimize the rigamarole so I can get back to doing productive work.

  90. Reddit's stance is a negotiating tactic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is a good reason to pay a bad negotiator less you get to save money. You can't afford not to pay a good negotiator more. If you feel you can then they are not a good negotiator.

    Recognize that Reddit's stance is a negotiating tactic.

  91. She doesn't get it, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They are also prepared to say "Not good enough." and walk away. So if you enforce the payment of peanuts all you will get are female monkeys, because the best females will walk away too rather than be paid less just to bolster the careers of their "sisters".

    Pao is a closet communist trying to succeed in the heartland of capitalism.

  92. Get the job, first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because being thought of as an unpleasant person, in an interview, does not get you hired. if people will call you bad names for your behaviour then why would they want to hire or promote you? Of course the same attitudes are are considered good in a male candidate, this being the root of the problem.

    1. Re:Get the job, first by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

      The people doing the hiring and promoting aren't the ones sitting around calling coworkers bitches.

  93. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can't suddenly make mediocre people good at what they do, so the only way for the left to enforce equality is to make the good people mediocre.

    Uh..Not suddenly no, but over time (even short term) yeah you can, it's called education, training and opportunity.

    You don't equalise everyone, the same as you don't just give up on everyone.

    The truth lies between the two extremes, and certainly wont be found if you just bang on about left vs right. Perhaps there is something to be learnt from both? Most lefties certainly don't want an entirely communist, bland world. Same as most right wingers don't want an extreme capitalistic society.

  94. This is why... by koan · · Score: 1

    Men negotiate harder than women do

    This is why women don't get paid as much or given the same opportunities.

    Because as YOU said Ellen... Men negotiate harder than women do.

    After all what if the job was negotiating deals for your corp? According to Ellen we shouldn't hire women for that position.

    Now get me a fucking beer...

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    1. Re:This is why... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      This is why women don't get paid as much or given the same opportunities.

      Ah so we should penalise women for negotiating so they don't negotiate and it keeps the salary down?

      If you een bothered to read TFS, you would see that women are actually penalised for negotiating. So no shit they don't negotiate as much.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:This is why... by koan · · Score: 1

      Well first you're an idiot.

      Second, the quote was "Men negotiate harder than women do" and that came out of Pao's mouth.

      So why on Earth would anyone in the business of "negotiating" hire a woman that admits that men are better at it than they are?

      But you can't think your way out of a paperbag, nor can you write English... and that's the real insult, because my writing and grammar are terrible, but yours, well shit you might as well be retarded if we go by your writing and thinking process.

      Pao is stupid, Pao didn't handle it right, and now Pao is going to blame "white male entitlement" or some other vacuous euphemism.

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    3. Re:This is why... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      So the fact that women are penalised for negotiating has nothing to do with anything. Right. It's fun taking facts and quotes and ignoring the actual context.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  95. An even better tip ... by perpenso · · Score: 2

    Pro tip: never accept the first offer......companies can always offer more.

    Even better tip: While you are still in college take the negotiations class. A good negotiations class that covers the art (psychology, etc) and science (game theory, etc) over a quarter/semester timeframe (readings, homework, in-class negotiation practice emphasizing recent reading/lecture topics -- i.e. applying different negotiating strategies) is incredibly valuable and a hell of a lot of fun when done right.

  96. Wrong approach by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    How about if women just grow some balls and learn how to negotiate so we don't have to "protect" them -- that only perpetuates the stereotype of the helpless woman, which you'd think real feminists would be against. Women can be every bit as aggressive and vicious as men; I can't see any reason why they would have a "natural" disadvantage in negotiation. It not like having a deep bass voice makes you a better negotiator, is it? Personally, I'd do better negotiating via email, perhaps everyone should do that to eliminate any gender discrepancies.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Wrong approach by responsibleusername · · Score: 1

      If the person doing the hiring has an inherent bias towards women then it has nothing to do with negotiating ability itself, but the perception of the interviewer. As evidenced all over these comments, men have lots of pent up frustrations towards women and seem to externalize them in situations that do not warrant it (ie, at work). It has been studied ad nauseam, you are missing a big part (or all?) of the decision if you think that this an acceptance that women simply cant negotiate. If a woman negotiating aggressively comes off as bitchy and nagging to you as an interviewer, thats on you, not her.

  97. Re:Better solution: Salary transparency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is a horrible idea in companies with a broad range of salaries for different jobs. People out of college who make $40k have no idea that the people next to them make $200k. Just because someone is paid less doesn't mean that they should be paid the same, and this causes bitterness and low morale. There is a reason that companies keep salaries secret.

  98. Negotiation: culture, not gender by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In many countries, there is still a strong tradition of bartering and haggling over purchases.
    In such countries, women are just as good at negotiation as men.

    For example, Korean women, ajumma, are famous for hard negotiation.
    So much so, that it is a common theme in Korean shows.
    Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=PLMf7VY8La5RGJWdb2j7rTJMlpf55-TP0G&v=0CpGM6xhIVg#t=1678

  99. This just happened to my wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Her attitude didn't "fit" with their culture, despite having worked there for years and finished several high value projects and dozens more minor projects, she was denied promotion. The new person (a man) has been there for half the time, only finished one high value project and nothing else. He was privately made aware of the position with two week's lead time, and basically offered her position at a much higher title and salary. Oh, and they're the same age and went to the same elite university, with equivalent degree/ grades/ service.

    The president is super old school and prefers guys. Sorry, but sexism is still present until these old folks die off. I don't think the new generation will be much different, just better at hiding their sexism and skirt HR rules.

  100. unless it's government, deep bureaucracy, freeze by raymorris · · Score: 1

    There are of course exceptions. In some cases, increasing the salary takes an act of Congress. Or at least an act of the state legislature. In a very large company or a deep government bureaucracy such as a university system consisting of several universities, the board may have instituted a freeze and the person hiring you is six levels of management away from that decision. It's helpful to have a friend on the inside who can give you a hint as to how flexible budgets are that year. Otherwise, at least read up on the company to see how their cash position is and how budgets look that year.

  101. Re:unless it's government, deep bureaucracy, freez by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    You might not get anything, but it doesn't hurt to ask. When the salary is set by bureaucracy, there is still usually some room....or there might be other benefits like an extra day off.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  102. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why should some whiny man-bitch get paid more for complaining the most? Take it or leave it.

  103. Negotiating is necessary. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    MightyMartian, somewhat above-average Earthman here.

    I think the whole situation is better characterized as doing what women in the U.S. often do, make themselves miserable. Underneath her statement is possibly a feeling that she doesn't like talking with men. (If you want to meet women who are, in general, much happier, go to Brazil.)

    No negotiating? That's crazy! Negotiating is just talking. When there is good communication, there will be better decisions. To give one small example, maybe there is a clerical error in the human resources department that makes the person being interviewed seem less valuable to the company than he or she really is.

    If someone makes exaggerated claims, that person is dishonest. Don't hire a dishonest person. If someone asks for 10% more pay than offered, ask why, and investigate any information that supports the request.

    Ellen Pao appears to be another Carly Fiorina. (Look at that terrible photo of Ms. Fiorina.) To me, Ellen Pao seems to lack social sophistication.

    1. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Negotiating is not just talking. Negotiating a series of demands. Some people are good at this, these people seem to be strong extroverts, they don't mind if others see them as assholes, they are not afraid to stand up and say something loudly. The used car sales types, except that they're on both ends.

      Meanwhile if there's a fair offer given then I tend to take it. I don't know if I can get more, I don't know if the hiring manager expended a lot of effort to get me a good salary and my asking for even more could be an insult. I don't know the average pay for everyone else in that department to be able to judge. If I negotiate aggressively then maybe they start to see me as a troublemaker. I have everything to lose if they turn me down, they have nothing to lose.

      If I did negotiate and get a much larger salary than someone with the same skills as me, isn't that unfair and selfish?

      Of course, if someone asks me what I would like as a starting salary, I'll give an answer. And they rarely ask me that anyway, usually they ask my current salary and then the offer is a bump up over that. But that's not negotiation.

    2. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by mysidia · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If I did negotiate and get a much larger salary than someone with the same skills as me, isn't that unfair and selfish?

      No... what's unfair and selfish is that the employer is taking unfair advantage of the other person by accepting their work and not paying nearly as much as they are willing to pay for that kind of work.

      In other words, the company is exploiting them for more than the company's fair share of the profit from their work.

      And you with your negotiation stood up to them and avoided that level of injustice.

      It's selfishness and unfairness; sure, but not on your part... on the employer's part.

    3. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by MightyMartian · · Score: 0

      Anyone who starts their premise with a misoginistic overgeneralization isn't going to impress me with what follows.

      When I interview for my organization, my primary interest is skills set and general manners and attitude. Some hyper aggressive alpha type who thinks he deserves a higher salary because of his real or imagined charisma and self confidence is not Going to impress me, and might actually do himself some harm. I've worked with people like that, and they are, to be quite blunt, fucking terrible, because they tend to view all interpersonal interactions as a contest that they need to win.

      AAT my organization you get pad commiserate with your skills and experience and team players and solid leaders see advancement, while the hyper competitive types, who are so often toxic to the team, and shockingly often not nearly as talented as they think, are shown the door if they can't moderate their behavior.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    4. Re: Negotiating is necessary. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess if you feel you have everything to lose than you're in a bad negotiating position. sometimes that happens but you just accept what they offer and move on. But why under value your worth. If someone won't pay me what i think I'm worth thani don't take their job is as simple as that.

      This attitude had nothing to do with " use car salesman" types and everything to do with being confident in yourself and what you being to a job.

      All Ellen Pao is doing here is guaranteeing overpayment for mediocre workers. Think about it. To get the best talent she'll have to pay top dollar. But that doesn't guarantee everyone hired is top talent. And with the attitude used you can guarantee she'll hire based on some perceived quota, further guaranteeing some his that are over paid for their skills. Which just means that she is guaranteeing Reddit will likely lose money. I would be dumping their stock.

    5. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by cas2000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Of course, if someone asks me what I would like as a starting salary, I'll give an answer. And they rarely ask me that anyway, usually they ask my current salary and then the offer is a bump up over that. But that's not negotiation.

      i've found that most employers do ask you what you expect as salary, knowing that most people will under-value themselves.

      i'm terrible at negotiations (coz i'm not an extroverted sales-arsehole) but even i know to reflect that question back by asking what's being offered.

      about the only thing i am consistently good at in negotiations is gettring rid of any clauses that say that whatever i do (whether in my time or theirs, on my equipment or theirs) belongs to them. I have my own projects and i contribute to various open source projects and i bring my own personal toolbox of tricks and techniques (that i've developed in my own time over many years) in to benefit my workplace - there's no way in hell i'm going to let them own that for any price. i have any clauses like that replaced with clauses that say, in short, that what i do on their time on their equipment is theirs and anything else i do is mine. if they're not willing to agree to that, then they're not the kind of employer i want to work for.

    6. Re: Negotiating is necessary. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Banning negotiations doesn't mean banning a variation in salaries. If the better guy is clearly better based on resume and interview he will receive a better offer.

    7. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by tburkhol · · Score: 1

      No... what's unfair and selfish is that the employer is taking unfair advantage of the other person by accepting their work and not paying nearly as much as they are willing to pay for that kind of work.

      If you know you're "negotiating," you ask for more than you want based on the expectation that you'll meet in the middle, somewhere close to what you actually want. Some people love that - witness open air markets in most of the world where the price of everything is negotiable.

      One imagines, if Reddit is really not going to negotiate on salary offers, that they will have to raise their 'opening' offer to something close to what prospective employees actually want. You can look at this as penalizing the people willing to go to the mat over that last $10/month, but it ought to benefit most people. After all, if "most people" were decent negotiators, don't you think car dealers would have abandoned negotiations by now?

    8. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by nabsltd · · Score: 1

      i'm terrible at negotiations (coz i'm not an extroverted sales-arsehole) but even i know to reflect that question back by asking what's being offered.

      The right thing to do is go in with "best world" and "worst world" numbers, and when asked what you want, give your "best world" number.

      That number shouldn't be a pie-in-the-sky, set you for life number, but instead a real idea of what it would take for you to live at your standards in that part of the country. This means you have to think about what commute you are willing to put up with and what that means for housing prices, and what the overall cost just to keep alive (electricity, transportation, food, etc.) will be. Add enough that you can save about 15-25% per year, and then add on enough to be able to relax when you want to. That means you have to define what "relax" means (go skiing, play video games, travel the world, etc.). That'll be close to your "best world".

      You're "worst world" depends on your current situation. If you already have a job that is OK, maybe you only drop about 10% from the best to get your worst. If you've been unemployed for a while and bill collectors are camping on your door, maybe you'll take less.

      With those numbers firmly set in place, you don't have to let them make the first move, as you know your upper and lower limit. It's just up to you to decide what happens if they counter and are still above your worst. Then, it's a matter of how much the quality of the job fits with what you want.

    9. Re: Negotiating is necessary. by Captain+Hook · · Score: 1

      All Ellen Pao is doing here is guaranteeing overpayment for mediocre workers. Think about it. To get the best talent she'll have to pay top dollar. But that doesn't guarantee everyone hired is top talent.

      If you read the summary carefully, they are not stating a salary value for a job in advance of making a offer to someone.

      They are interviewing and then making an offer they feel is appropriate for that interviewee, that means that they can still adjust the offer based on the person in front of them (and who is to say the hiring managers don't offer less to women?). All thats changed is that the offer is set in stone, the interviewee either takes it or leaves it.

      This scheme will live or die on how well they predict the job market for the roles they are hiring for but I don't see how it really addresses the stated goal of equalizing pay ranges between genders.

      --
      These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
    10. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by rjstanford · · Score: 1

      That's likely to fail, because your conditions have nothing to do with your value. Your best-world case should, if you have the track record and experience to justify it, include the fact that with you along they're likely to ship that new product 6 months faster producing an extra $2mm in cash flow next year (or whatever the scenario is), making hiring you at a high rate something that's actually good business sense for the company. You'll find that people are far more willing to talk about compensation under those terms than you might think.

      If you're going to just be another cog in a big machine with no real direct impact as to whether or not the company earns back your salary .5X or 50X, then expect to get paid what all of the other cogs are getting paid +/- 2%, at least at first.

      --
      You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
    11. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      The first person to mention a number loses. It is that simple.

      When they ask you your salary demand/current salary respond: 'I think we are too early in the process for me to fairly evaluate your _initial_ offer.'

      Negotiation is a skill. It might come more naturally to extroverts. But it is a skill you can learn none the less.

      If they really push and demand you name a number say 'I want _all_ of it. But that's negotiable.'

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    12. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      For most people buying a car is a emotional, ego driven experience. Car salesmen thrive on this.

      Smart people don't buy cars from dealerships, ever.

      Don't be emotional and ego driven when looking for job. Would you take a lower offer for a better title?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    13. Re: Negotiating is necessary. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      No doubt, 'she' will be seen as better. Based on possession of two X chromosomes.

      Buy long, out of the money, put options on Reddit.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    14. Re: Negotiating is necessary. by goose-incarnated · · Score: 3, Insightful

      All Ellen Pao is doing here is guaranteeing overpayment for mediocre workers. Think about it. To get the best talent she'll have to pay top dollar. But that doesn't guarantee everyone hired is top talent.

      If you read the summary carefully, they are not stating a salary value for a job in advance of making a offer to someone.

      They are interviewing and then making an offer they feel is appropriate for that interviewee, that means that they can still adjust the offer based on the person in front of them (and who is to say the hiring managers don't offer less to women?). All thats changed is that the offer is set in stone, the interviewee either takes it or leaves it.

      This scheme will live or die on how well they predict the job market for the roles they are hiring for but I don't see how it really addresses the stated goal of equalizing pay ranges between genders.

      This scheme doesn't work too well anyway - I won't go for the interview without an upfront statement wrt the salary. I don't think I've ever gone for an interview which did not have a salary range stated upfront. As recently as Monday I've told a slave-trader that the job-spec he sent me neglected to mention a salary range. He came back with "They offer competitive market rates" and I replied with "I don't interview for people who cannot afford me". I will not be going on any interview soon (mostly 'cos I'm happy where I am, but regardless).

      It's actually quite simple - if they cannot afford me then they should waste my time. If I'm unable to adjust my expectations downwards then I won't waste theirs. There is no "Well, we'll offer you competitive market rates for your skills after we interview you," there is only "don't enter the fitting room if you can't afford to buy!"

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    15. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      True Scotsmen wear kilts, too!

    16. Re: Negotiating is necessary. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want a beta male then you will get a following type organization. If you want alpha males you will get an individualist type organization. Both organizations will be less than successful. If you mix the two in the correct way then you will get a successful organization.

      Both the alpha drive and and the beta execution are required. If you don't like completion then join a nunnery.

    17. Re: Negotiating is necessary. by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      All Ellen Pao is doing here is guaranteeing overpayment for mediocre workers. Think about it. To get the best talent she'll have to pay top dollar. But that doesn't guarantee everyone hired is top talent.

      If you read the summary carefully, they are not stating a salary value for a job in advance of making a offer to someone.

      They are interviewing and then making an offer they feel is appropriate for that interviewee, that means that they can still adjust the offer based on the person in front of them (and who is to say the hiring managers don't offer less to women?). All thats changed is that the offer is set in stone, the interviewee either takes it or leaves it.

      This scheme will live or die on how well they predict the job market for the roles they are hiring for but I don't see how it really addresses the stated goal of equalizing pay ranges between genders.

      This scheme doesn't work too well anyway - I won't go for the interview without an upfront statement wrt the salary. I don't think I've ever gone for an interview which did not have a salary range stated upfront. As recently as Monday I've told a slave-trader that the job-spec he sent me neglected to mention a salary range. He came back with "They offer competitive market rates" and I replied with "I don't interview for people who cannot afford me". I will not be going on any interview soon (mostly 'cos I'm happy where I am, but regardless).

      It's actually quite simple - if they cannot afford me then they should waste my time. If I'm unable to adjust my expectations downwards then I won't waste theirs. There is no "Well, we'll offer you competitive market rates for your skills after we interview you," there is only "don't enter the fitting room if you can't afford to buy!"

      The deal is with hiring/starting salaries. And please realize, all large organizations have an HR department that knows or has access to the cost of living by city. Subtract that cost of living from the formula, and you have a salary range, based on what you sell as years of productive technical deliveries. Negotiations are essentially showing that you are worth your hired starting salary.

      Most employees are fully replaceable, which means that if you believe your self to be worth more than the ceiling in the salary range for your corporate knowledge and your years of experience, you won't get that increase, or you go elsewhere. you might however, get an annual bonus, but the salary range stays intact.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    18. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would absolutely love to know what a company is offering for a position before I go into an interview. We could both save so much time that way. If a potential employer tries to low-ball me, I thank them for their time and leave. My current company offered me a fair wage without having to negotiate, and I would much prefer it that way. The management at my company has been really great to me thus far.

    19. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      1. Smart people don't buy cars from dealerships, ever.

      Don't be emotional and ego driven when looking for job.

      2. Would you take a lower offer for a better title?

      1.Where do people buy cars then since dealerships are the only (well until now with tesla) legal means of buying new cars?

      2. Yes i'd take a better title because down the road that title is worth more at other companies.

    20. Re:Negotiating is necessary. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      If you know you're "negotiating," you ask for more than you want based on the expectation that you'll meet in the middle, somewhere close to what you actually want.

      Not necessarily.... That's called deceptive negotiating, which is a specific kind of very aggressive negotiation strategy. Which can also backfire through sticker shock or insulting the other party. A more respectful form of negotiation is to first know what you really want, and ask for what you think is fair, as close to what you expect to get as possible --- but overestimate slightly towards your favor never underestimate...

      All negotiation is: is knowing that you want; asking for more, and attempting to persuade the counterparty to agree to more; and being willing and prepared to walk away from a deal and make no agreement, instead opting for a next best option ---- since you need some form of leverage to effectively persuade the other party.

      Sometimes you do your research, you decide on what you want in exchange for X. You offer what you want, Y.

      If the other party tries to counter with Y - 5%, then you say no; I want Y.

      And you get Y, or you leave the discussion and make no deal, or go to think about it.

      Depending on the position you are in.... just because you are prepared negotiate, does not necessarily mean you are willing to allow the other party to talk down your demands. Sometimes you can accept a 1%, 2%, or 5% decrease to meet the other party...... sometimes, the circumstances are very much in your favor, so you don't bend at all..

  104. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I AM NOT A CROOK'S HEAD!

  105. Offensive. by xombo · · Score: 1

    I find the assertion by this CEO that women are going to be aided by this because they are somehow not as effective as negotiators to be really offensive.

  106. Sounds like she thinks she's underpaid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and is taking it out on her employees.

  107. Social Science by Baldrson · · Score: 1

    If your favorite social theory is being tested on the masses, when things good, it is because of your social theory and when things go bad they are going as good as they could have gone in all possible worlds.

    That's why those who object to your social theory don't need to be consulted for their consent prior to your experiment being run on them. Indeed, if they strenuously object (say, because an aspect of your social theory is that "sexual pressure ushers, guides or shepherds the process of sexual awakening" in your prison system), their extremism is a clear and present danger to the stability of society and it is only reasonable to preemptively treat their psychological disorder, with or without their consent.

  108. Yeah, well by azav · · Score: 1

    I feel all kinds of fuck her.

    --
    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
  109. What about 4chan subreddit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't see any gender equality statements in this. Is the 4chan subreddit behind the times now?
    Or do they assume that everyone working for free is somehow equal?

    https://www.reddit.com/r/4chan...

  110. Not all people are equally vauable. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    what is more, the company is going to have a hard time holding on to and obtaining top tier talent if they tell everyone "we don't negotiate"... so if I find a job offer from another company that will negotiate and offers a better rate... and then I go back to my boss and say "can I get a raise because your competitor will pay me more"... you'll say "we don't negotiate with terrorists"... I mean employees.

    Poe is at best a troll. And her idiocy is increasingly becoming an embarrassing laughing stock amongst her peers... male and female.

    What a clown.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:Not all people are equally vauable. by twistedcubic · · Score: 2

      The hiring salaries are non-negotiable. Nothing was said about raises. This sounds reasonable. You get a raise if you prove yourself at the company, but not before you even start the job.

    2. Re:Not all people are equally vauable. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      First, if I have offers from a competing company offering more and you refuse to negotiate then you lose.

      Second, if you let me negotiate for raises then I'm going to use my superior negotiating ability to get paid more than people that suck at it. Which means this policy will accomplish absolutely dick.

      So... the policy is stupid AND ineffective. Thank you for the correction. I thought it was just stupid before... now apparently it is ineffective on top of that. Hilarious.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    3. Re:Not all people are equally vauable. by twistedcubic · · Score: 1

      You're still assuming more than what was said. Many places evaluate employees solely on the word of their superiors. Regardless, I don't think this will change your conclusion. However, the same could be said of hiring at McDonalds, which is probably just as useful a company as Reddit.

    4. Re:Not all people are equally vauable. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      If you want burger flippers writing your code, then go for it.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  111. Yeah right. by mark_reh · · Score: 1

    'So as part of our recruiting process we don’t negotiate with candidates. We come up with an offer that we think is fair. If you want more equity, we’ll let you swap a little bit of your cash salary for equity, but we aren’t going to reward people who are better negotiators with more compensation.

    Except the executive positions...

  112. wtf? by kuzb · · Score: 1

    That makes no sense at all. If I can't negotiate my own salary as part of the hiring process I don't want to work for you. Plain and simple. This crap isn't about leveling the playing field between men and women. It's about a company saying "this is what we'll pay, and it's non-negotiable".

    Hopefully Reddit fires Ellen soon. This woman is delusional.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  113. Re:Better solution: Salary transparency by kuzb · · Score: 1

    Holy shit, someone had an outbreak of common sense. What's the containment protocol for this? Do we nuke the site from orbit?

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  114. Re:It's never for 'promoting equality' by Darinbob · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So when women duplicate the personality traits of males they become feminazis?

  115. because of a feminist bitch by PC_THE_GREAT · · Score: 1

    So because of a feminist bitch, someone who is female now receive the same salary as me, just because she has the same qualifications but not necessarily better skills than me? Reddit probably is having financial issues or the guy is really pissed after losing a court case, :p who would want to work for a place where such practice is current?

    1. Re:because of a feminist bitch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      someone who is female now receive the same salary as me, just because she has the same qualifications but not necessarily better skills than me?

      Umm that is exactly what should happen.
      People who have the same qualifications as each other and not necessarily better skills should get paid the same at initial hire.

      Would you prefer that people who have less qualifications and less skills are getting paid more simply because they are good at manipulating the clowns in HR?

  116. Reddit Surgical Procedure For Male Employment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Surgical removal of Penis and Balls.

    For Managerial Position minimum requirement: surgical removal of spine.

    So this is Pao's World.

    Count me out dude.

    This fem fatal wants BLOOD now that the trial made an ass fool of her.

    Ha ha

  117. next up: we aren’t going to reward smarter p by ami.one · · Score: 1

    Great, next up: we aren’t going to reward people who are smarter with more compensation ! Or those who work harder, or have more responsibility & risk...

  118. coercive negotiations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They offered 130k
    I asked for 135k
    They said no
    I asked for 140k, final offer
    They accepted

    There's a lesson there for you youngsters...

    1. Re:coercive negotiations by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

      It's been a while since I was in your salary bracket, but I might have hired you simply for having the balls to do something like that, as long as everything else I was looking for was there.

  119. Women can and should negotiate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coincidentally i just got a call last week from my former team member she is presently working for a fortune 20 company,who got a 'better' offer from another fortune 20 .

    The HR of her present company asked why she wanted to leave, she was honest and said 'as you are aware i have a child about to go to school, money is important'. She even negotiated for a better position and she GOT IT!!

    Am proud of her.

    If YOU can, you SHOULD!! gender doesn't matter.

  120. We come up with an offer that we think is fair. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so, you'll end up with a workforce that is deficient in negotiating skills. but that's okay, because negotiating skills aren't useful in any other context besides salaries.

    the hr sharks are excepted, of course, and they will be "fair".

  121. Men get couches in the restroom then.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we're being equal I can go immediately find one problem right away at Reddit HQ.

    I'll walk in, go to the womens room (announce myself obviously) then peek in and look at a nice comfortable couch sitting in there. Then I'll walk into the mens room and look around.... Where is the couch? I'm not seeing anywhere to sit down if I'm feeling faint.

    Not even joking either, I suffer from anxiety and sometimes have to rush in the mens room to try to get my bearings near a trashcan somewhere that I won't make a scene if I throw up.

    I have nowhere to sit down as I'm sweating my ass off having a panic attack if all the stalls are full which is almost always. Yet if I was a woman with this problem there are comfortable couches right by the door/garbage can which is exactly what I'd need to sit on when the stalls are full so I'm not getting sick out in the open because I have nowhere to sit. (In my case sitting down *really* helps, but I must be near a trashcan)

    PS. Anxiety sucks, yet I'm a hard-negotiating successful male who just has some bad days every few months. Where's my Bathroom couch?

  122. wrong assumptions by Tom · · Score: 2

    Men negotiate harder than women do

    You see, that's the problem right there: Stereotypes.

    Some people negotiate harder than other people. Maybe statistically speaking, men fall more often into group 1 and women more often into group 2. You're trying to tell me that's the only factor? I'm quite sure introverts fall more often into group 2 while extroverts fall more often into group 1. Maybe redheads fall more often into group 1, or people born in August. Maybe tall people. Probably younger people fall more often into group 2. People shortly after a divorce, people with pets, people growing up with older siblings...

    It's so crazy that we focus on the sex thing when there are one thousand differences between person A and person B, most of which were not theirs choice, many of which are equally genetic.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    1. Re:wrong assumptions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is a good point. That is, this policy helps everyone who would be penalized for negotiating, not just women. It so happens that that group is disproportionately women, but I generally feel it's a good sign if you can fix a sexist system without referencing gender in your policy change.

    2. Re:wrong assumptions by Drewdad · · Score: 1

      Yup. Or older and more experienced....

      I'm much more comfortable negotiating now (mid-forties) than I was when I was younger. I'm more comfortable keeping my cards close to my chest, too.

      This goes for everything... cars, houses, jobs, etc. Car salesman asks me where I live? Nope. Those car ads about "bring in your W2?" Nope. Employer asks for salary history? Nope.

    3. Re:wrong assumptions by Tom · · Score: 1

      Yes, this is actually a good standard, mod the AC up.

      If you can't re-write your policy change or other "equality" demand in a way that doesn't mention gender at all, then it's not actually an equality demand.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  123. Hollow Policy by src1138 · · Score: 1

    If the candidate is someone they really need, they will negotiate.

    And the reasoning behind it is pretty sexist. Hopefully it's just sour grapes from the trial and the real reason is less, um, ridiculous. I can tell you that my wife has negotiated with employers for jobs, salaries and raises - and is better at it than me. But then, I'm not a Ponzi-scheming waste of teeth and hair.

    I guess this will pre-screen the candidates for people that really want to work at Reddit for whatever reason.

    1. Re:Hollow Policy by src1138 · · Score: 1

      I think I get it now - Pao believes she is an everywoman, and her weaknesses and failures belong to all women.

      Luckily that is not true, or we would have no women to look up to.

  124. Back to the babie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And one again we "banning" a practice because a baby can't eat a steak.
    Definitely going to avoid working for a company that has a women in a head position.

    Next up, unisex soccer. Men will have one leg amputated to level the playing field.

  125. No thank you. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does saying, "no thanks", count as negotiation?

  126. Exactly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It now all hinges on the offers they make.

    Regardless, there are still perfectly capable people who employers overlook for stupid reasons, like being too old, not currently having a job, spent time working in another field, interview poorly, etc. If her offers are too low, then her employees must become better at identifying and nurturing such talent.

    In other words, if some companies do this then it cannot help but benefit developers, either because they offer more, or because they must find the diamond in the rough.

    Also, she banned salary negotiations from hiring, not retention, so employees will still interview elsewhere, get offered more, and ask for more.

  127. there were other options by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For a start, they could allow unions and negotiate with the union rep, and all the members would benefit from the better negotiating skills, no matter the gender.

  128. So perfect executive material, then. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ellen negotiated her salary. Nobody else is allowed, now she's CEO.

    And when she leaves, she'll negotiate her salary again.

  129. Bossy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You see, there's actual studies that show that the earth is 6000 years old and is a flat disc covered by a dome of the universe on which the stars lie.

  130. Europe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, that's fucked up. Europeans get like four weeks off plus some public holidays, but the details vary.

    Also, Europeans can frequently negotiate reduced hours, maybe only once the company depends upon your knowledge. 70% time means they work 28 hours per week. Women with kids commonly take 50% time.

  131. We are better at something by ruir · · Score: 1

    So you will get penalised for this. Here to my middle finger to you. It also does not hurt I am having a profit. They are not doing me a fucking favor hiring me, it is a contact negotiation. If people are assholes negotiating a contract, I will go somewhere else. Business is business.

  132. Re:Better solution: Salary transparency by swb · · Score: 1

    Secret pay agreements create an imbalance of power between employers and employees because they eliminate pricing transparency and allow for non-rational pay inequity, such as racial, gender or merely office politics reasons.

    There's no reason people need to be paid the *same* -- different people bring different skills and experience to the table as well as being hired in different points in time when skills may have been more or less in demand.

    Two people may do the same job and make different wages, but they're not the same person, either. With transparency, the onus shifts to *management* to justify why people are paid differently, and management has to be cognizant of pay differences being transparent -- they can't deviate significantly without real reasons.

    Do you think there's no scheming/bitterness/morale problems *now* relative to pay? Making it secret is much worse.

  133. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The way Republicans do mediocrity is illustrated in the recent story about how at the Daily Caller they spiked a reporter's story because he wrote something critical of Fox News where their CEO is a regular guest.

  134. Ruse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's cute that so many people think she's being honest about her motives. This is clearly a way to use feminism as an excuse to set salary levels and lowball candidates while looking like a hero.

  135. we knew... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    we knew she was a gready person (and just to make it non gender biased - her husband is not better read up on him if you've got a minute, very interesting con man) but now she wants to fuck everyone over men and women alike under the umbrella of equality, oh please...
    so how does this work?

    I interview
    They offer
    They suggest I can take 100k or leave it
    I decline
    They go to the next candidate?

    Oh please....
    Only works with working class hiring process, surely at C-level there will still be negotiation...

    Can we stop talking about this annoying person and just move on with life, she is not doing anyone any favours...

  136. Every one is the winner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    3 fastest runners at the next Olymipcs will be slowed down to make sure we have equality. Wait 1000 top earners should have their money split between the rest to have equality.

  137. Re:Being anti-male makes women unhappy. by Wootery · · Score: 1

    You somehow think your little rant is relevant?

    Reminder: the existence of misandry doesn't disprove or render irrelevant misogyny.

  138. Lowest common denominator, to be expected by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

    Before :
    Interview with a woman :
    - Pay is X
    - Ok (final pay : X)
    Interview with a man :
    - Pay is X
    - I want 20% more
    - I give you 10%
    - Ok (final pay : X + 10%)

    After :
    Interview with a woman :
    - Pay is X
    - Ok (final pay : X)
    Interview with a man, case 1 :
    - Pay is X, no negotiation
    - Ok (final pay : X)
    Interview with a man, case 2 :
    - Pay is X, no negotiation
    - I quit

    So yes, equality : take the lowest salary and make it the standard. As for men or women with good negotiation skills, they will simply look elsewhere.

    1. Re:Lowest common denominator, to be expected by Shados · · Score: 1

      Yup, so here's the dirty secret that this ends up showing, assuming something like this became a lot more common.

      Lower paying companies will end up with a higher percentage of women. The men will simply hold on offers and pick between multiple ones to get the higher paying ones. So you end up with lower paying companies full of women (who just took the job) and higher paying ones mostly with men who selected on that criteria (for better or worse).

      Then in the news, the higher paying companies end up being called out for being sexist and not hiring enough women, even though it was basically self selecting by the candidates themselves.

      End result: everybody loses.

  139. Interesting Strategy by organgtool · · Score: 1

    So rather than empower women by making them better negotiators in the business world, Ellen Pao is trying to take the process of negotiating out of the business world. I'm sure that will end well.

  140. Good Policy - Bad Reasoning by tomxor · · Score: 1

    Unless negotiation skills are relevant to the job then it's good (if idealistic) to not determine salary based upon that skill.

    However Ellen Pao's reasoning is to make women and men equal... Please notice my wording here, not to treat men and women equally but to make them equal, an attempt to "correct" a statistical bias.

    This is bad reasoning: if you take this concept and apply it more broadly it starts to look more absurd. There are large statistical differences between men and women in too many areas to count (in terms of both advantages and weaknesses), those statistics (and stereotypes) should not lead to discrimination when women and men are treated equally (we want to be treated based on our individual ability after all). However handicapping everyone to force equality is like forcing all Olympic athletes to not perform better than the average of whichever gender is statistically weaker... there would be little point in having an olympics other than to prove you can perform at the average of the weaker half of the population (but not better! that would be unequal).

  141. Trade-Off by Afty0r · · Score: 1

    Reddit is probably going to get quite a bit of PR for this - they're also not going to be employing many people who have strong negotiating skills. In the short term they get to resonate a message with their audience, in the long term they lose a lot of competitiveness, especially in their sales and procurement departments.

    Not a tradeoff I would be willing to make if I was concerned about the long term viability of my business.

  142. Pao is sexist and here's why by BobSutan · · Score: 1

    It's well known that men and women tend to value different things: men tend to go for higher base pay, ergo they tend to negotiate better for it, whereas women tend to go for better work-life balance benefits such as flex time or whatever. By freeing up money by reducing the rates by preventing negotiation, this translates to being against men's interests and allows the company more money for the sort of things women want.

    To be clear, Pao is trying to kowtow to women by sticking a thumb in the eye of men. THAT is how this all shakes out in the end, plus any money isn't use for women's benefit goes right into the company's profits.

    --
    "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
  143. Negotiations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Generally you negotiate because all people are different!

    There is no such thing as equality, and if I think I am worth more money because of my experience, abilities et.al. then I will negotiate.
    If you don't want me to negotiate then either make a good offer, or I will not take the job!

    And If she wants to offer everybody the same amount of money, she will end up with people who are skilled less!

    And what's funny is that she said "women get penalized if they negotiate"....so the only reasonably think she could think of is to ban negotiations?!?

    HOW ABOUT BANNING PENALIZATION OF WOMEN?!?

    This is the thing because feminists and gender studies have such a negative image...because instead of solving the problems, they create new ones!

  144. Riiiight.... by Steve+B · · Score: 1

    Reddit CEO Ellen Pao Bans Salary Negotiations To [-BS-]Equalize Pay For Men, Women[-/BS-] Facilitate Hiring Cheaper Help

    Fixed it.

    --
    /. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
  145. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is what the republicans want you to think!

  146. Re:Being anti-male makes women unhappy. by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    And yet encouraging hard negotiations when hiring someone is going to see those kinds of people get to the to of the list.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  147. She won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So she can negotiate her salary when she joined as CEO, but no one else can. What a bitch.

  148. Training by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why won't she just pay to train their female staff to be better negotiators?

    1. Re:Training by twistedcubic · · Score: 1

      Because she is banning negotiations before employment. Staff are, by definition, already employed.

  149. yea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So basically women are more scared of being turned down if they ask for too much. Men are more willing to decline a job then a women. But this idea would help companies out, since they can keep pay lower for everyone if negotiations are banned.

  150. Great Example! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Normally I have to think of hypothetical situations to illustrate that freedom and equality are mutually opposed concepts. Here I have a practical example. To achieve equality, they are eliminating the free exercise of a choice to negotiate or not.

  151. Yeah...i'll just look elswhere. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a man I kinda feel like I'm loosing out on cash but I guess it's for the greater good.

    Note to self: Don't work for Reddit.

  152. greenwow, you are an idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not even a bad troll, just an idiot.

  153. Quite fair, unless you are hiring a negotiator... by jovetoo · · Score: 1

    Why pay your employee more for negotiation skills they do not need in their daily job?

  154. Is "gender gap" argument bullshit? by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    There are many factors that determine pay, not just education level.

    My understanding is: women do not equal pay for equal work - they already have that, that has been the law for 50 years, or more. Women want equal pay for so-called "compatible" work.

    BTW: I have degrees in math, comp sci, and business. I have worked right next to a woman with nothing more than high school, and she got twice my salary. Where is my "equal pay for compatible work?"

  155. Retroactive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about those employees already there? Will they be going through and raising the poor negotiator's salaries to those that negotiated well?

    Somehow I doubt it. And I suspect there will be those there that will feel slighted because of it.

    Typical management, rarely considering existing staff and the impact on them.
     

  156. Isn't this stupid for hiring businessmen? by darkmeridian · · Score: 1

    Doing away with negotiations might make sense if you were hiring programmers, but what about executive level staff? The C-suite people need to negotiate on behalf of the business. They need to go to vendors, clients, suppliers, etc. and argue their case. You might save a bit of money here and there but you're also losing people who are really good at negotiatingâ"I bet that the people who are good at negotiating would be negotiating themselves better salaries at other firms for more than Reddit is handing out.

    --
    A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
  157. Send in the negotiator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I negotiate all my salaries because I know there is a range. I also negotiate from a place where there is less risk. Meaning, when I already have a job. I know my salary is better than the rest of the team man or woman but that shouldn't be a ding on me for going after what I want. I'm sorry that some aren't as extrovert. Taking that away means losing your edge to attract top, aggressive, talent.

  158. Greed Motive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This seems more self serving to her corporate CEO greed role than addressing any concern for gender equity. Opens the door for exploitation of all the workers, not just the ones affected by sexist bias (like the excuses she offers in defense of the idea).

  159. Re:Of course that Republican bitch... by pscottdv · · Score: 1

    "The year was 2081 and everyone was finally equal."

    - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

    --

    this signature has been removed due to a DMCA takedown notice

  160. Transparency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First of all, what most of what everyone else says: if it's not a negotiating job (buyer/seller), why in the hell should I have to learn to dicker to get more money?

    This only caught fire because it started with "pay equality for women", which I found ironic because the useless dude who I worked with got a buck more an hour than me in tech support and the middle-aged woman got two-bucks. Call it a "I didn't negotiate" or more rather the "dude with long hair gets screwed by the button-downed management".

    Best case scenario is for everyone's pay to be posted on a bulletin board for transparency. Then, when everyone knows the walking-coffee-mug makes too much, or a minority is making too little . . . or just some guy makes a lot more than everyone else in his department, people have a choice to call out management or leave.

  161. Re: Being anti-male makes women unhappy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He never said it did. Christ sakes, I think I hear a woman in trouble, SJW go save her now, you know you get a hard dick defending helpless woman.

  162. Non-salary benefits by rechtco · · Score: 1

    Research about women's poorer negotiation skills or underpayment is based on hard salary dollars and almost always does not include the value of benefits and job characteristics. For example, before the new health law, more women would prefer and accept jobs that provide better health plans at a trade-off of a lower salary, while more men would forego health benefits for higher pay. The compensation value to the employer is identical, but the reported pay of men is higher. Women as a group negotiate or choose jobs with more flex-time, less travel, less overtime, less weekend work and more on the job safety than men. This has been studied and documented by the US DOL and many researchers. Many promoting the idea of women's lower wages as compared to men fail to mention and include the value of non-W2, non-1099, job benefits and characteristics. Whenever there is a number showing the ratio of women to men's pay, it is always an inter-employer, inter-industry number. Similar job classifications at different industries and different employers have a different ratio of benefits and job characteristic value to salary. What has been attributed to poor salary negotiating skills of women is really women over time in the workforce, negotiating non-salary benefits or self-selecting into jobs or industries with higher amounts of non-salary benefits. Because the large scale pay differential between men and women is always across industries or firms, just about all pay discrimination lawsuits against an individual firm employer, whether it be a Wal-Mart or a Kleiner, fails in the court.

  163. women never know how to leave well enough alone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is just an immature little tactic to try and make a point. Salary negotiations are a part of a job and I have seen women perform very well at it over the
    years. Nothing more pathetic than a rich powerful woman being upset that she didn't get everything she wanted. Someone finally told her no for the first time in her privileged pampered female existence and she can't stand it.

  164. H1B Ppppplease by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We are offering our candidates the fair offer of 35k for advance programmers with 20 years experience and not enough qualified applicants have submitted resumes please Mr Senator here are some hookers and blow can I get some H1B's since no one qualified exist.

  165. Ceo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time for a tech trade union.

  166. Life isn't fair. Making it less so is not a fix. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > 'Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate,'

    And so the solution is to ban any attempt to negotiate, and put the power in the hands of the hiring corporation, which is always above-board and ethical. That's the problem with Liberals, they always try to "solve" problems by clawing back the people who do well and make them do worse just so they match everyone else. That maybe the people lagging behind should be enabled to keep up - say, by adding some courses in salary negotiation in Universities (ha! Just the thing to round out that "Gender Studies" degree!) - but, no, we can't do THAT.

  167. yeah no.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know where I won't be working.

  168. Confused by rhyous · · Score: 1

    Wait.

    So she is saying Woman aren't as good as men at negotiating? I thought the point here was that Women are equal to men.
    Which is it? Are women equal to men, or aren't they?

    She is also saying that this supposedly margin of pay difference that supposedly proves we are still a sexist society is caused by women negotiating with less skill than men. So she is blaming women for their own low salaries and she is removing the blame on sexism.

    So that means we have reached equality and women are be treated equally to men because a man with poor negotiating skills gets paid less too.

    Did I miss anything here?

  169. I can't wait.... by XB-70 · · Score: 1
    Me: "Hello, Reddit, I'd like to buy you."

    Reddit: "Okay, we're selling for $6 Billion."

    Me: "Look, I'll offer you .... $100,000 because your EBITDA seems vastly over-inflated.

    Reddit: "Seems like a good deal. We'll take it."

    --
    *** Don't be dull.***
  170. Silly idea by vakuona · · Score: 1

    Here is an idea. Reddit should just publish their salaries. That way both men and women know what they should expect to be offered.

    Other than that, company makes offer, and I tell them I either don't accept it (because I am already earning more than that, or enough to not bother moving), and company makes me a higher offer anyway, or negotiations just happen on the sly, you know, off the record.

  171. One more time! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NO! Pay attention! She's a crazy bitch therefore she fucks so good she's on top of it...

  172. STEP RIGHT UP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, a faire way to deal with this would be with peanuts, cotton candy, and a ferris wheel.

  173. *rollseyes* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's only there so that the other side can't scream discrimination. Typical CYA. Pay attention, bruh.

  174. Re:Better solution: Salary transparency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, it's the only way to be sure.

  175. open letter to pao by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/open-letter-reddits-ellen-pao-al-williams

  176. US Govmint and equal pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs. My boss was a female. her boss was a female, her bosses boss was a female and so on up the food chain till you got to the VA secretary. Now how did this sort thing happen ? 40 years of firm tit action, that is what happened. Here is how promotions are selected, with all things being unequal. The good olde boy/girl network, then of those black then female, then female and white, black and male and the last consideration male. Being a homosexual male does not hurt becuz the females like their company. I applied for promotion several times with education and experience in my background. A black female with no experience or education in that field was selected more than once. The rejection always read "Another highly qualified individual was selected for this position." The pay is equal, but the opportunity? Well let's just say it don't take a masterbaters degree to figure that out. But real pitiful thing is the veterans are the ones who suffer more with this crap. By the way they like having any kind of retired MP/Master at arms of any sort on the police force. Probably because the VA police are not policy and procedure deciders and they usually move to other Federal police forces.

  177. Moron Ellen proves the sexes are not equal by Cito · · Score: 1

    She said herself women can't negotiate as good as men.

    Stop forcing equality

    There is no equality, forcing equality turns people into average sheep following a political correct groupthink collectivism mentality.

    From ancient man, to now men are the bread winners, the hunters, the protectors, its in our DNA to compete, fight, negotiate, step on competition, win at all costs.

    It is natural and comes easy. Women are better nurturers, better at records, accounting, teaching, its natural from ancient woman to now its in the DNA.

    Its why men and women don't compete in sports, men bones are denser, more solid frames, their bone density is much much stronger than us. We learn that in basic anatomy.

    A better negotiator should be rewarded. I negotiated my salary, I get paid more than my coworkers, but I work harder to prove worthy, and have had 3 promotions in 2 years from that ambition.

    You destroy negotiations, and force equal pay then you kill ambition. If I got paid same as coworkers I wouldn't fight to beat them to top, we'd all just do minimum work required to get paid and not give a fuck.

    Allow competition among workers, if women can't keep up then its not the man's fault. Don't punish men for being naturally better in certain fields.

    Keep pissing off men you will get an Ayn Rand fucked up scenario where men say OK we quit, go have fun... Then the company will fall apart and destroy itself.

  178. Has anyone looked at who suggested this? by Specks · · Score: 1

    I see that one post has tackled the main gist of Ellen Pao's ban on Salary Negotiations. Though some have touched on it in one way or another. It seems to me that gorilla in the room was only glanced at, and reluctantly so. This seems more of a lashing out by Pao due to her loss of her law suit. The salary inequality between men and women is a myth when you take away all the extraneous stuff. Taking away the ability of a potential employee to negotiate their salary in the name of gender equality and then saying that it is because "men negotiate harder". I'm detecting a bit of misandry in her thought.

    --
    Specks
    Batteries not included
  179. Women not good at negotiating? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, it seems like Ms. Pao is saying that indeed men are better than women at, at least, at negotiating. So she's oddly saying that anyone that needs to be in the position of negotiating for Reddit should probably be a man.

    Secondly, negotiating is a massive skill for anyone involved in product development. Ultimately, development is about deciding how to share resources. That is a negotiation. If you cannot make a case why your feature is more important, or why your feature cost is low, then you never really get your features shipped.

    Again, Pao seems to be saying women suck at this role.

    Very strange.

  180. comrades! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All employees should work for free, and the politburo, err, the leadership, should divvy up who gets what at the end of the year.

  181. so..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I take it they have changed tact from lowballing to actually trying to pay you for what they think you are worth?
    Doesn't that statement mean that they got employees for less than they truly thought they where worth (i.e they negotiated poorly) and now have to compensate? are there wholesale comp releveling taking place over there? Did they ever pay someone more than they where worth because they where a good negotiator?

    curios mind wants to know... :)

  182. HG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This reminds me of Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" Full Text: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html

  183. Or... by tyroneking · · Score: 1

    ... Reddit could just offer negotiation skills classes to all candidates, thus improving the lot of all, instead of reducing the playing field to the lowest common denominator.

  184. An imperfect solution by responsibleusername · · Score: 1

    As long as salaries are considered confidential there will be inequality in compensation. The fact that employees feel that we will be the ones who have to justify our salary to other employees (in the case where we make more for the same (in name) position) is a cultural issue. I think that the employer should have to be prepared to justify why they may pay one individual more than another for a similar job. If one person performs better, let them be the ones to say so. Once the stigma of salary sharing is gone, we'll be much closer to pay equality.

  185. Different Strategy Idea for Ellen Pao by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree that there is a pay equity problem. I disagree that this is the answer, since it merely reduces the already-very-tiny leverage an employee has on the issue of compensation. This solution improves Reddit's position, and doesn't really change much for employees.

    I have a counter-proposal: put everyone's salary -- including the CEO's! -- on a public website. Now everyone can see the playing field and so the employee and the employer have the same amount of information going into the negotiation. Any offer can be compared against the average compensation for similar job roles.

    As a nice side-effect, the company would also be forced to think about the terrible wages being paid to janitorial staff and other "hidden" workers, since they'll appear in stark contrast to what's being earned by others.

  186. Ellen Pao Bans Urinals at Reddit by bartoku · · Score: 1

    Ellen Pao cannot pee standing up, so she ripped all the urinals out of the men's bathroom and made the ceilings five feet high so you must sit down to piss. This is a huge blow to feminism. no wonder she lost her case; she is an imbecile.

  187. What she's done... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... is basically just a negotiating tactic.

  188. Jane/Lonny Eachus goes Sky Dragon Slayer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This "conversation" is continued from here.

    Pardon me again. Just for the sake of completeness, I want to post this:

    Answer

    In physics, we call "thermodynamics" something else. We call it "statistical mechanics." Meaning macroscopic and predictable based on statistics. Before you read further, please just consider this notion: "equilibrium" is *defined* in thermodynamics as a state where there is no net flow. Trying to prove that there is a net flow is just trying to prove non-equilibrium. There's no reason to try and say that there are counterexamples. That's like trying to say that a dog is really a cat. The very word "equilibrium" means that all the flows are equal in all parts of the system, in and out. If you find a counterexample that exists, then by definition the system is NOT IN EQUILIBRIUM. So if you find a counterexample, then you've found a system that is not in thermal equlibrium. Done.

    In the system I showed there IS net heat transfer. It is not in local thermal equilibrium. The point was important. [Lonny Eachus, 2015-04-13]

    Notice that the quote you copied isn't restricted to heat flow. That point is important. Conservation of energy applies to all energy which crosses a boundary, even if it crosses that boundary in the form of electricity instead of heat.

    Conservation of energy means that if you draw a boundary around some system (like the heated plate), power going in minus power going out of the boundary equals the rate at which energy inside that boundary changes. If nothing inside the boundary is changing, that rate is zero so power in = power out.

    If power in = power out, physicists say there's "no net flow".

    So Lonny's link is actually just repeating the same basic concept that I am: if there's no change with time, conservation of energy says that power in = power out. ALL power. Not just heat, because any form of energy has to be included in the energy conservation equation.

    That's why if nothing is changing with time, electrical heating power depends on the cooler chamber wall temperature:

    electrical heating power + radiative power in from the chamber walls = radiative power out from the heat source

    Once again, what matters is that the objects' temperatures aren't changing with time. It's just a matter of labels if we call this "equilibrium" or "steady-state".

    But I generously let you choose "steady-state" seven months ago. And yet you're still using this nonsensical excuse to evade solving the very first step of this very simple thought experiment. Why?

    @tan123 @SteveSGoddard These two bozos wanted to set me up. (I *DO* have a reply to their physics problem, by the way.) [Lonny Eachus, 2015-04-13]

    Really? Then prove it. Show everyone how the enclosed plate doesn't warm, without using your previous nonsensical equation which violates what you call "kindergarten-level physics", and without wrongly claiming that "radiative power out" is held constant rather than electrical (or Jane's cow fart or Lonny's horse fart, etc.) heating power.

  189. "the 101" was Re:Negotiation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the 101" - wow, you are a southern californian. nortenos would just say "101". bleah

  190. Jane/Lonny Eachus goes Sky Dragon Slayer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've failed to communicate once again.

  191. Jane/Lonny Eachus goes Sky Dragon Slayer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For some reason that link didn't work: http://davidappell.blogspot.co...

  192. Jane/Lonny Eachus goes Sky Dragon Slayer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lonny Eachus's rant is continued from here.

    No, did you read the part I referenced? Remember, radiant output power is solidly fixed to T for a gray body. Via Stefan Boltzman relation: Area * esT4 Changing radiant output power changes thermodynamic temperature and vice versa. There are no two ways about it. Kirchhoffs law says AT EQUILIBRIUM, output spectra will shift subtly in such a way that radiant output power does not change, therefore T does not change. However, this is at equilibrium. It has been claimed (not by me) that this holds for gray bodies not at equilibrium. I am happy to patiently wait to see how such arguments play out. No tricks. I just want honest science. In the open where people can see it. Not much to ask. I am also happy to be proved wrong, if it happens honestly. That's how people learn, yes? Until I am presented with a cohesive rational chain of argument, it is impossible to answer or evaluate. I am no longer going to tolerate his piecemeal this argument here, that argument there, no i didn't say that bullshit. I am not asking you to sympathize, but I hope you can at least understand my position. And to be honest, far worse than the "I didn't say that" crap, was the "You said THIS", when I had repeatedly said no. So, not to be redundant, but that's why I want him to show an actual complete solution to the "problem" he presented himself and for which he even specified most of the parameters himself. I let him do it. And I want it in public. If he refuses, then he abdicates any right he may have to hound me for life over it. And I won't even bother to give details about that "hounding". You would probably think I was exaggerating. I have already stated that. However, see Kirchhoff's Law, as applies to the cavity experiments which were used to discover and formulate it. Edge cases like, for example, a black or gray body in a cavity of the same material. Radiative transfer is NOT intuitive. It has traps and pitfalls. Normal intuitive thermodynamic reasoning can fool you. I would quote one of my radiative heat transfer textbooks, a I did Killett, but I don't have it by my side. So... Robin, I ALREADY TOLD YOU I was describing an edge case. If you want to look it up, you can find it yourself VERY EASILY on the Wikipedia page on Kirchhoff's Law. I am NOT going to argue this with you here.

    As I have clearly stated, multiple times: Killett made a claim of a solution to Spencer's gedankeneksperiment. I agreed to discuss it with him, and Latour's rebuttal to Spencer's blog post. That led to an argument about a very specific problem, mainly specified by Killett himself. As a result of that argument, over which he actually did not do very well, he became upset and started a campaign of ad-hominem via social media. My ONLY interest here is to have Killett show HIS problem, and HIS solution here in public where everyone can see it and understand it. So I can also honestly respond to his argument, also openly and in public, where everyone can see it. While I have mentioned physics here on Twitter, I have NO intention of ARGUING physics here on Twitter, for the same reasons I just got done explaining. Are we understood? Twitter is my PERSONAL SPACE, where I interact with my friends. The only reason I gave you that long explanation before was because YOU ASKED, and it genuinely deserved a long explanation.

    I use Twitter the way I wish to use Twitter. Thanks very much. Further, according to Twitter, you were not following me so there could be no DM exchange. Althought Twitter has been known to get that wrong. Understood. Nothing personal intended, and at this time I have no reason for hard feelings. That sounded kind of stiff, didn't it? Apologies. Just a personal note: I have much going on, rather a minority of it pleasant, and if I seem short or stiff it is only because I have obligations, places to be, things to do, and often not much time for niceties. Also, I don't mind discussing things, in the w