Dive Brief:
- At least one tech company in China appears to be going well beyond Silicon Valley's oft-mentioned workplace benefits culture by offering its male-dominated programmer workforce a rather unique, albeit ridiculous benefit — personal cheerleaders, according to an article at CBC News.
- CBC News says that the country's government-run news service China.org.cn reported recently that internet companies "across China" are hiring "pretty, talented girls that help create a fun work environment."
- Dubbed "programming cheerleaders," these young women serve up chit-chat, play table tennis, cheer, clap and even bring breakfast to male programmers as part of their job, CBC reports.
Dive Insight:
Well, about the only good thing to say here is the recently reported infamous frat boy shenanigans at a Twitter office pale compared to these apparently company-sanctioned perks.
"According to the HR manager of an Internet company that hired three such cheerleaders, its programmers are mostly male and terrible at socializing," reads China.org.cn's Facebook post. "The presence of these girls have greatly improved their job efficiency and motivation." The post doesn't specify which companies, or how many of them, have hired cheerleaders.
Naturally, the social network response to the news was interesting, with both trolls and critics of the retro HR strategy taking place in some Chinese tech companies.
For HR leaders in the U.S., if someone suggests you attend an HR conference in Bejiing, you might want to check the program before buying those tickets.
