‘I love tech guys!’ Incredibly sexist job ads abound among China’s tech titans

Some ads are ‘men only,’ other ads try to entice prospective male applicants with promises of ‘beautiful’ female coworkers

Human Rights Watch published a report earlier today detailing how gender discrimination in job advertisements is particularly rampant in China, even at the biggest tech companies in the country — a finding that while extremely troubling, is not terribly surprising.

In analyzing more than 36,000 job adverts that were posted on corporate and government websites and on social media between 2013 and 2018 in China, HRW researchers discovered a number of positions — including prestigious, well-paid ones — that were open only to men — sometimes explicitly.

For instance, the report, titled “Only Men Need Apply,” points out one posting from Baidu seeking an “information feed reviewer” which is open to applicants who have at least an associate’s degree, relevant work experience, and are male.

The report calls out fellow tech titans like Alibaba and Tencent as well for posting similar “men only” or “men preferred” ads — there’s even one ad that calls for only “strong men” to apply.

Meanwhile, when job applications are open to women, they sometimes include a number of different requirements which have nothing to do with the applicant’s actual qualifications, including their height, weight, and appearance. One posting for a salesperson that is referenced by HRW lists the requirements for the job as being: “Height above 163cm, trim figure, aesthetically pleasing.”

In addition, China’s biggest tech firms have been known to take the objectification one step further by trying to entice prospective male workers with promises of working with “beautiful” female coworkers.

“These are the goddesses in the hearts of Alibaba employees. They want to be your coworkers. Do you want that too?” reads one advert from Jack Ma’s conglomerate.

According to HRW, another ad posted to Alibaba’s recruitment social media account featured a series of photos of young female employees which described them as being “late night benefits.”

The New York-based rights organization also highlights a recruitment video from Alibaba which showcases various women describing what they are looking for in men and exclaiming “I love tech guys!”

Meanwhile, the report also takes aim at Tencent, noting a 2016 recruitment post on WeChat in which a male employee was quoted as saying: “The reason I joined Tencent originated from a primal impulse. It was mainly because the ladies at human resources and that interviewed me were very pretty.”

Last January, the tech company which has recently become more valuable than Facebook, raised eyebrows with an activity at a company event that saw two female employees on stage on their knees in front of a pair of male coworkers, trying to use their teeth to open a bottle of water wedged between the guys’ legs.

Over the years, China’s tech titans have developed a reputation for being shockingly blatant in their sexism. Back in 2015, Alibaba was forced to withdraw a job advertisement for a female candidate looking like porn star Sora Aoi, who was to be tasked with “motivating” her fellow coworkers.

That same year, Baidu celebrated International Women’s Day with a series of lackluster doodles perpetuating stereotypical images of women. The following year, a senior Baidu exec was demoted after giving an incredibly sexist presentation, in which he told the audience:

“If a girl says to me, ‘The air conditioning in my dorm doesn’t work, and I don’t want to go home,’ what does she mean? I think it means she wants to kiss and have some sex.”

Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba have all responded to be listed in HRW’s new report. You can read their responses below, via Bloomberg:

In an emailed statement, Tencent said it has investigated the incidents and will make immediate changes. “We are sorry they occurred and we will take swift action to ensure they do not happen again,” it said. “Tencent values diverse backgrounds and recruits staff based on talent and ability.”

Baidu said it ”deeply” regrets what it described as “isolated instances” of job postings that didn’t align with its values, and that the company had removed those ads before the report was released. Baidu said women account for 45 percent of its employees, with mid- and senior positions reflecting a similar number.

Alibaba said it conducts regular reviews of recruitment ads and has “well-defined guidelines” on providing equal opportunities regardless of gender. It said 47 percent of the company’s employees are women and women leaders occupy one-third of its management positions.