A Reddit post by a man accusing his workplace of favouring female employees over their male counterparts has ignited a debate on social media. The user, who described himself as a "fairly feminist person" until recently, claimed that women in his office work fewer hours but receive faster promotions, while men are expected to put in longer hours with no extra compensation.
"I am a 24-year-old male, I am a fairly feminist person (up until now). But ever since I stepped into the workplace, I can see the difference in how men and women are treated," he wrote.
Claims of gender disparity
The Redditor listed several ways he believes men face disadvantages at work:
Women receiving lighter consequences for mistakes that would be costly for men.
Women working strictly 9-to-5 while men are expected to put in 14-15 hour shifts without additional pay.
Senior employees taking extra time to mentor female colleagues, while men are expected to learn on their own.
Women being prioritized for promotions, often based on appearance rather than skills.
He clarified that he does not hate women, nor is he blaming them for his own struggles. He added that even female colleagues have acknowledged the workplace bias. "It’s kind of a given that a good-looking woman will be promoted without any skills… Kinda sad about this situation, either you have to be the best and give your whole life or be sidelined your whole life," he concluded.
Social media reactions
The post received mixed reactions. Some users sympathized with his concerns but pointed out that the real issue lies with management, not female employees.
One user said, "You should hate your workplace, not the women. Hate your bosses who are exploiting men, not the women."
"You're right at noticing the unfairness, but it's not the recipient’s fault. The one giving such favours is to be blamed," noted another.
A female commenter agreed with some points but disagreed about working hours. "Maybe good-looking women or those who stay close to certain managers work less, but the rest of us work long hours too."
Some users shared their own experiences with gender-based hiring biases. One of them said, "Diversity hiring has done so much damage to 2024 passout boys. Some companies held interviews for equal numbers of men and women but ended up selecting only 2 boys and 70 girls."
"Girls who don’t even know how to open Windows Task Manager got placed with 12 LPA packages," taunted another.
While some acknowledged that hardworking and deserving women do succeed on their merit, the discussion highlighted growing frustrations around gender policies in hiring and promotions.