Internet companies in China recently made an online buzz with its unusual practice to motivate their programmers — by hiring cheerleaders. According to the caption of images posted on Facebook (in verbatim):
Internet companies across China are embracing programming cheerleaders, pretty, talented girls that help create a fun work environment. Their job includes buying programmers breakfast, chitchatting and playing ping-pong with them.
According to the HR manager of an Internet company that hired three such cheerleaders, its programmers are mostly male and terrible at socialising, and the presence of these girls have greatly improved their job efficiency and motivation.
As a developer myself, I find this is to be totally degrading to the profession and of course, to the ladies.
Throughout history, females have had contributed to the advancement of computer science. English mathematician Augusta Ada King, also known as Ada Lovelace, famously wrote the first computer program. US Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton was credited with coining the word software engineering and concepts that became the foundation of software design. Google has its Security Princess, Parisa Tabriz, who can hold her own against other security experts, leading the company’s Chrome Security team.
I feel sorry for the lone female programmer seated at the back.
Personally, I have female friends who are great programmers, developers, developer evangelists, software engineers. They have the brains, they have the looks too. I wonder what my friends would say.
A female cheerleader plays ping-pong with a programmer.
And this is how and why male programmers remain socially awkward. Objectifying ladies in the office, only to have that misconception turned upside down outside of the office.
So instead of hiring cheerleaders, shouldn’t the myopic HR department find long-term, far-sighted measures to improve the social skills and motivation of the programmers?
Let me give you a tip: hire more female programmers.
Source: Trending in China Facebook page
