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Apple, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft Sign White House Pledge For Equal Pay (fortune.com) 294

In honor of Women's Equality Day, an anonymous reader shares with us a festive report from Fortune: More than two months after the White House first announced its Equal Pay Pledge for the private sector, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and other major industry players have signed on. By taking the pledge, which was first introduced at the United State of Women Summit in June of this year, companies promise to help close the national gender pay gap, conduct annual, company-wide pay analyses, and review hiring and promotion practices. The new signees were announced in a White House statement on Friday -- which also happens to be Women's Equality Day, the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Apple, which announced earlier this year that it has no pay gap, released a statement promising to dig even deeper into compensation. "We're now analyzing the salaries, bonuses, and annual stock grants of all our employees worldwide. If a gap exists, we'll address it," the company said in a statement. Twenty-nine companies signed the pledge on Friday, bringing the total number of signatories to 57. The pledge is part of a $50-million, White House-led initiative to expand opportunities for and improve the lives of women and girls. The consortium members issued a statement via Whitehouse.gov's press release: "The Employers for Pay Equity consortium is comprised of companies that understand the importance of diversity and inclusion, including ensuring that all individuals are compensated equitably for equal work and experience and have an equal opportunity to contribute and advance in the workplace. We are committed to collaborating to eliminate the national pay and leadership gaps for women and ethic minorities. Toward that end, we have come together to share best practices in compensation, hiring, promotion, and career development as well as develop strategies to support other companies' efforts in this regard. By doing so, we believe we can have a positive effect on our workforces that, in turn, makes our companies stronger and delivers positive economic impact." The consortium members include: Accenture, Airbnb, BCG, Care.com, CEB, Cisco, Deloitte, Dow, Expedia, EY, Glassdoor, GoDaddy, Jet.com, L'Oreal USA, Mercer, PepsiCo, Pinterest, Rebecca Minkoff, Salesforce, Spotify, Staples, Stella McCartney, and Visa.
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Apple, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft Sign White House Pledge For Equal Pay

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  • Cool (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 26, 2016 @10:32PM (#52779385)

    Can they work equal time?

    Cause in my experience there's a lot more "oh my children" time given and no "Hey I am a single white male" time compensated.

    • Re:Cool (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Saturday August 27, 2016 @08:09AM (#52780577)

      Can they work equal time?

      Cause in my experience there's a lot more "oh my children" time given and no "Hey I am a single white male" time compensated.

      Hopefully, the work itself will have some impact on compensation. I was the highest paid person in my department by far. That's because I would put in the work needed to get the job done. Trying to get a female co-worker to put in anything over 40 hours was almost impossible. The reasons it was impossible was that "I have to cook dinner for my husband/pick up the kids at day care/I have a golf match/group therapy/I'm in a car pool/I have a headache. The same for most field trips.

      To the point where in over 30 years, I recall one time a female co-worker worked overtime. She even cried about it.

      After 5 was a sausagefest, as they say. So I'd be interested in seeing some equality in that area as well.

      And that's a big issue, because although I'm retired now, if my co-workers who couldn't be bothered to put in any extra when needed were paid the same as me, I'd either need a promotion, or would also have to cook dinner for my wife.

      • by u38cg ( 607297 )
        Fuck me, I'd forgotten how fucking awful comments on this site are.

        Oh well. It's been nice, Slashdot. But I think we're done.

    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      About half of men in the workforce have children.

  • Ok (Score:5, Insightful)

    by geek ( 5680 ) on Friday August 26, 2016 @10:35PM (#52779395)

    Fine, as long as it works both ways. There are two women on my team who earn more than me with less qualifications and are on my team solely because they are women. Diversity! I should expect a raise right?

    • Re:Ok (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Plus1Entropy ( 4481723 ) on Friday August 26, 2016 @11:40PM (#52779563)

      If you really think you're underpaid compared to your co-workers, then yes, you should ask for a raise (not simply "expect" one). Whether they are women or not, the "correct" answer doesn't change.

      However, you've probably never asked because you're afraid that the answer will be that they are actually more qualified and/or better at their jobs than you are.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Crashmarik ( 635988 )

        Actually the best thing you can do is start shopping your resume around and stop being discreet about it once you have a couple of offers.

        Why the fuck should you do a favor to people that slighted you ? They thought it was a game well teach em to play.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          So on the one hand, men earn more because they are better negotiators. On the other, the advice to men is to simply leave rather than try to negotiate.

          This is why the situation is so screwed up, unfair not just to women but pretty much everyone.

          • 1 line so wrong. Your comment relates to nothing anyone said, and ignores the best way to negotiate is to have multiple bidders.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I'm in this exact same situation and no, the female developer is not more qualified or better at her job. The response was "you need to be more sensitive to current climate".

        I am now looking for a new job after being informed that they're looking to expand their diversity efforts. I've already had one hiring manager casually tell me that my 'optics' put me at a disadvantage in his hiring criteria. (Optics meaning that I'm 'fucking a while male!!!')

        Take all of your SJW horseshit and cram it right where th

        • by nomadic ( 141991 )
          "I'm in this exact same situation and no, the female developer is not more qualified or better at her job." Are you the most objective person to evaluate whether you or someone else is a better developer? "My reward is getting told that I'm somehow responsible for the entire world's ills" Dude, not getting a specific job is not being punished for the entire world's ills.
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The pay gap is a function of averaging part-time women, and women who started their career late or took several years off (and hence didn't accrue as much experience or raises in their age group) with men who have not done these things.

      On average, men have more full-time positions, and more experience at their positions, than women (on AVERAGE). When you account for those differences and compare apples-to-apples, women are already being paid more.

      Now, they are going to get paid EVEN MORE to overcompensate

      • YOU'RE JUST A MISOGYNIST!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!

        But yeah, stats lie, and more and more I find it hard to support the left because of things like this.
    • There are two women on my team who earn more than me with less qualifications

      Yes, but do you make a good coffee?

      --
      This is a joke, JOKE.

    • by guruevi ( 827432 )

      Start a Equal Opportunity lawsuit, you should win.

  • by Stormwatch ( 703920 ) <(rodrigogirao) (at) (hotmail.com)> on Friday August 26, 2016 @10:49PM (#52779435) Homepage

    So, did women pledge to work as hard as men do? Did they pledge to take as many overtime hours? Did they pledge to pursue the same risky and physically demanding careers, such as construction or mining?

    • I have never understood this argument, and I hear it a lot (never from women, btw).

      Let's take a job that has some inherent danger, like lion-taming. It's also highly exclusive, there are only 2000 lion-tamers in the world, and they all happen to be men. There's no gender bias among ring-masters, women simply "don't like to tame lions", even though the average salary is around $100,000. So, what is the gender pay-gap among lion-tamers? Is it 100%, since "all" the women lion-tamers are earning an average of $

      • by hsthompson69 ( 1674722 ) on Saturday August 27, 2016 @02:30AM (#52779955)

        You do realize that the often reported "pay-gap" doesn't control for qualifications, workload, or responsibility, right?

        The pay-gap exists because men and women make different choices, and these choices have consequences even when everyone is paid identically based on qualifications, workload and responsibility.

        Now, if you really want to talk about equal pay, hows about union shops where seniority drives pay, rather than qualifications, workload and responsibility. Two people, both working the same job, both producing the same results, and one gets paid more simply because they have been there longer. Now that's a sticky wicket.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          This myth about it being a choice needs to die.

          It's not a choice to be the only gender capable of carrying and breastfeeding children.

          It's not a choice to be told from birth that engineering isn't for girls.

          It's not a choice to be paid less because your boss rates masculinity highly when being asked for a raise.

          It's not a choice to have to take all the parental leave because the pay is lower for men.

          • by Jody Bruchon ( 3404363 ) on Saturday August 27, 2016 @08:09AM (#52780579)
            The myth that women don't have agency and aren't capable adults needs to die.

            It is a choice to have children and the full consequences of doing so aren't a secret.

            It is a choice to listen to people who try to tell you what you can and cannot do in your own future.

            It is a choice to ask for a lower pay raise when you ask for a raise, as it is a choice to not seek a new job if your company doesn't appreciate you.

            The last statement doesn't make any sense without more context.
          • by nomadic ( 141991 ) <nomadicworld@ g m a i l . com> on Saturday August 27, 2016 @08:29AM (#52780645) Homepage
            What I find somewhat hilarious are the legions of resentful male developers who will complain for years that they are not hired or underpaid or overworked or not promoted or criticized or whatever, inconsistent with their true worth, because: (a) workplace politics, (b) human resources are idiots; (c) their boss doesn't like that they're smarter than them; (d) nepotism; (e) they don't have the right degree even though they're smarter than the PhDs they work with; (f) their coworkers undermine them; (g) etc..

            But, the second a woman complains that she is unfairly paid less than them, these developers suddenly develop massive cases of amnesia and insist that their companies are true meritocracies where talent is universally recognized and rewarded, so obviously the accusations of discrimination against women are unwarranted.
      • <quote><p>I have never understood this argument, and I hear it a lot (never from women, btw).</p><p>Let's take a job that has some inherent danger, like lion-taming. It's also highly exclusive, there are only 2000 lion-tamers in the world, and they all happen to be men. There's no gender bias among ring-masters, women simply "don't like to tame lions", even though the average salary is around $100,000. So, what is the gender pay-gap among lion-tamers? Is it 100%, since "all" the wome
    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      I'm sure all the female miners who work for Facebook have taken that pledge.

  • by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Friday August 26, 2016 @10:51PM (#52779441)

    Yeah, I didn't think so.

  • http://www.forbes.com/sites/ka... [forbes.com]
    http://www.washingtonexaminer.... [washingtonexaminer.com]
    http://fortune.com/2016/04/12/... [fortune.com]

    But hey, you need to keep the plebes riled up.

    • You may not have notice when you were copy-pasting those links, the ONE STORY that was actually about the pay gap and had any data was about worldwide pay in developed nations. Women in most European countries have been making the same as men for decades. Hell, even in little countries like Serbia, there's been pay equity for over half a century. The other two stories were op-ed pieces by people who presented evidence, only feelings.

      If you look up at the headline of this story, you will notice that it's

  • by Archfeld ( 6757 ) <treboreel@live.com> on Friday August 26, 2016 @11:04PM (#52779463) Journal

    Sounds like a good idea. What I'd like to know is when has there ever been equal pay or equality in anything ? Even when it was just the 'good ole boys' club there were always the ins and the outs. Those that were part of the skull and bones frat scene and those that were not. The nouveau riche https://www.google.com/#q=nouv... [google.com] vs. the old money vs. the working class. No matter which side of the tracks you were born on equality has always been a struggle.

  • "We're required to shove one SJW feminist STEM propaganda piece down our readers throats every week"?

    Like the media outlets responsible for #GamerGate, it seems that more and more Slashdot's moderators actively loath their own readers...

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      "We're required to shove one SJW feminist STEM propaganda piece down our readers throats every week"?

      So I take it she got both the house AND the car?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Feminism nonsense isn't very popular here, but it brings in the comments.

      Trolling its readership has been how Slashdot operates for years. Since it's all about the comments, I don't think it's as bad as you make it.

    • Well with Gawker dying SOMEONE has to pick up the slack!
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      If you don't like them, just scroll down to the next story. Why do you even come here to comment? Plenty of us want to talk about this, why are you trying to stop the discussion?

      We need to look at this because of shit like GamerGate. There was a powder-keg of misogynist bullshit just waiting to go off, and that one blog post set it off.

      • by Cederic ( 9623 )

        There was a powder-keg of misogynist bullshit just waiting to go off

        Maybe, but GamerGate wasn't it. Unless you can provide enough evidence to counter the vast tract of material demonstrating collusion amongst games journalists, lapses in ethics and the intentional vilification of the people pointing those out.

        Since miso- means hatred, lets skip straight to the biggest manifestations of hatred: Death threats and bomb threats.

        Draw me up a list of the documented death and bomb threats that have been validated by the police as legitimate and worth investigation, and lets see wh

  • We promise! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by wonkavader ( 605434 ) on Friday August 26, 2016 @11:56PM (#52779605)

    I think if you read the actual agreement, I suspect it says "We promise to pay women just as much as we pay our male H1-Bs."

  • I say equal pay (Score:5, Insightful)

    by penguinoid ( 724646 ) on Saturday August 27, 2016 @12:49AM (#52779741) Homepage Journal

    for introverts and extroverts.

    • Since introverts spend more timing doing their own work and less time distracting other people from theirs, they increase company productivity, are worth more to the company, so should be paid more to encourage more people to be introverted.

      • Companies tend to hire future leaders not hard workers. Regardless of the prospects of all those hires actually becoming the CEO.

    • for salesmen and engineers, for leaders and subordinates, for ...
    • I say equal hiring opportunities for introverts and extroverts.

      Because every company I've ever worked for expects to employ leadership material extroverts who can present themselves perfectly and think up of witty things to say in front of a panel of judges in order to get a job.

  • by Fallen Kell ( 165468 ) on Saturday August 27, 2016 @01:19AM (#52779813)
    When will people wake up and stop eating up this stuff? The entire notion that there isn't equal pay for equal work is pure crap. If it wasn't crap, all these companies would have been hiring women all the time for every position because they could pay them less.

    Lets do a little common sense here, I am a hiring manager and just interviewed two people with very similar qualifications, backgrounds, and work ethic, but one of them I can save ~20% on pay/benefits.... Wow, I wonder who I am hiring...

    Wait, but you mean to say that the market doesn't work in this case, that all the financial market theory, best practices, etc., all cease to function once someone introduces the gender of an employee. Go back to college if you still think that (or more to the point go to college in the first place, just make sure you study a STEMS field, apparently we need more of them to drive costs down because we can't hire enough, and thus need more H1Bs, and yet wages are still mostly stagnant...).
    • by kackle ( 910159 )

      When will people wake up and stop eating up this stuff?

      When someone (us) fights back. When we say we're going to "buy" less of Apple, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft, because their values don't align with ours.

      I haven't made the same as a female since I was bagging groceries as a kid. After that, adult's skill sets widely diverge over time. Hell, there isn't a MAN with the identical qualifications that I have. Everybody's different...

      Further, let's multiply that by the fact that I had to fight, threaten and give ultimatums to get the vast majority of rai

    • I used to think that was a good argument, but then I worked with enough organizations to understand that they are all so far from operating at maximum efficiency that paying 20% more than they need to for an employee is the least of their worries. Hell, they are probably carrying all sorts of absurd dead weight in nepotism, and people promoted into incompetency, or simple 'bad hires' who looked good in the interview who haven't been detected yet or need to go through some kind of drawn out HR firing process
  • by Goldsmith ( 561202 ) on Saturday August 27, 2016 @02:24AM (#52779945)

    Equal pay for equal work is a nice phrase, but this is not the way the world works. Forget gender for a minute, and think about whether this approach has a chance to work in any situation where we're trying to equalize economic outcomes.

    You don't get paid just based on the work you do. The risks you take, your ability to negotiate, and your ability to leverage your existing finances can play a much bigger role in how much money you make than your actual work. This is why investors make more money than management, who make more money than the people doing the work.

    This policy of focusing on salary, standardized benefits, and career development worked in the economy a generation or two removed from today. Now, wealth and advancement are generated through job-hopping or maintaining ownership of your work, not annualized salary. I think telling women they'll do well by sticking with one company and fighting for raises and career development is a recipe to create a gender wage gap.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      This is why I don't discuss current/previous salary. It just punishes loyalty.

      It's also odd that men get a daddy bonus when they have kids, which if you are right would make them more risk averse and less able to job hop (kids in the local school etc) and thus paid less. Yet the discrepancy seems to be down to then being seen as more dependable.

      Women get penalised for having kids, which does fit your theory.

  • The "Gender pay gap" is not because two equally skilled and experienced people are getting paid different amounts based purely on their genitals, the pay gap is the result of men and women being different, and because they're different they choose different types of work and working hours which affect their income (ie stockbroking vs nursing). Therefore the averages are different, ie on paper there it appears to be a gap when there isn't
    The ironic part is that the feminists are too angry to figure this out
  • This is an easy pledge to make, if you pay people based on their education and actual years of experience. Why? Because - if you look at it that way - there is no gender pay gap.

    All the studies that show a substantial gender pay gap either (a) equate different professions, or (b) compare people based on their ages.

    The first of those is obviously flawed, because different professions are, in fact, different. This includes studies that compare average pay in an entire region, because women and men do tend to

  • Just reduce the wages of male workers.

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