Feminist Icon and Interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao Says New Employees Won’t Be Able to Negotiate Their Salary

Interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao, a modern-day feminist icon who recently lost a high-profile gender discrimination verdict that shook up many aspects of Silicon Valley, is eliminating salary negotiations for new employees during the company’s hiring process. 

The reason? Women can’t negotiate on the same level as men, a conclusion that’s been confirmed both by Pao’s own experience and numerous studies.

“Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate. So as part of our recruiting process, we don’t negotiate with candidates,” Pao said of the policy. 

“We aren’t going to reward people who are better negotiators with more compensation.”

While the move could be considered a step towards greater fairness in the workplace, it’s hard to argue such a gender-centric decision advances the notion of equality.

Sure, eliminating something that one gender is inherently better at may level the playing field, but tipping the scale in one direction is a very partial approach to the issue.

As workplace issues author Alexandra Levit points out, “it’s true that women don’t fare as well in salary negotiations, but the fact is, they don’t fare as well with compensation generally as men, and this won’t solve the age-old problem of unconscious bias.”

It’s unclear at which stage, if any, negotiations will be allowed following the hiring process or if the new policy will hinder Reddit in recruiting top talent. 

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