Jack Welch: “No Such Thing As Work-Life Balance”
Posted July 14th, 2009 by Elisa BatistaFormer General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jack Welch gave a bummer of a speech to the Society for Human Resource Management’s annual conference on June 28. In it, he had some harsh words for women, ahem, mothers:
“‘There’s no such thing as work-life balance,’ Mr. Welch [said]. ‘There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.’
Mr. Welch said those who take time off for family could be passed over for promotions if ‘you’re not there in the clutch.’
‘The women who have reached the top of Archer Daniels, of DuPont, I know these women. They’ve had pretty straight careers,’ he said in an interview with journalist Claire Shipman, before thousands of HR specialists.
‘We’d love to have more women moving up faster,’ Mr. Welch said. ‘But they’ve got to make the tough choices and know the consequences of each one.’”
The speech was originally covered in the Wall Street Journal. Because the newspaper charges for online access, I received most of my information from Salon’s Andrew Leonard who was thoughtful in his approach to this topic:
“But being a man, I’ll tell you what Welch’s comments mean to me. By his definition, every man who has risen to the top of the corporate ladder has sacrificed his family for his career. By being ‘there in the clutch’ they’ve not been there for the sick kid or the softball game or the dance performance. Of course men have it easier, since if they want kids they can outsource the job of actually bearing them to a sidekick and don’t have to worry about figuring out how the breast pump works. But those are just technicalities.
Of course we all make choices with consequences as we go about crafting our careers and balancing them with other priorities in our lives. But to interpret Welch’s words as a harsh message for women is to miss his real point. Denying that there is a possibility for a ‘work-life balance’ is a bummer for the entire human race.”
First of all, whenever I read these stories especially from the point of view of Fortune 500 CEOs, I think it fails to take into consideration the workforce changes due to employees who want a life outside of work. Small businesses, for example, many which are headed by mothers, now make up almost 45 percent of private payroll, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2000, when the country was experiencing record-economic growth, small businesses actually employed more private sector workers than large corporations, according to a report by the Clinton Administration, which also cited statistics by SBA.
Technology such as the Internet, cell phones, pagers, conference calls and telecommuting policies were not only introduced to increase worker productivity but are conducive to the lives of working parents, or children of elderly parents, or sick workers, or workers who simply need to step away from their desks. Honestly, it seems like the Jack Welches are the ones having a hard time letting go.
Of course, a worker who puts in 80 hours a week on the job and can travel at a moment’s notice because he has a spouse at home picking up the slack can soar higher in the workplace than a working mother who “chooses” to attend her kid’s soccer games. But as Leonard pointed out, is this the standard we want to create for human beings? How about hiring more people and dividing up the work more equitably? Not only would it be a boom for the economy, but the workforce would represent the population, many of whom are parents.
What say you about Jack Welch’s speech?
12 Comments
Women everywhere DO make the “tough choices.” No decision is tougher than whether to return to work or spend more time with your child. What Mr. Welch is saying is if you choose to make your family equal to your career you’ll never climb to the top of his corporate ladder. He may be right. But there are certainly other ladders. My hope is that the Jack Welches of the world will be undermined by us: the smart, savvy, nurturing, creative, (profit generating) women who make over 80% of all consumer decisions. It’s only a matter of time.
[Reply]
July 17, 2009 at 7:33 am by ChiCatIs the “corner office” really the only mark of a successful career? That seems to be Welch’s benchmark, and his words must be taken with that salt. If you NEED a corner office to be happy, than you do indeed have a tougher path, regardless of gender.
[Reply]
July 16, 2009 at 12:26 am by AnilThe point i see here is “what is your priority”?
If, lets say, my priority no. 1 is work and no. 2 is family, i’ll do whatever possible to strike the perfect balance possible between the two. And i think most of the women ar better at this than any man (after all they capable of multitasking)
but if for me the only priority is work then i tend to see all others with the same frame.
[Reply]
July 15, 2009 at 5:44 am by leanneclcI’m mad at Jack Welch – because I think his speech was actually good…if he had just chosen not to use “women” as an example.
I think career choices are important and do have consequences. I also think anyone looking for true “balance” will fail. You need to be flexible enough to know when different portions of your life take precedence…and have a support system in place at work, at home and of friends to deal with those situations.
I also want to thank you for pointing to the Salon.com article which shows just how out of touch Jack Welch is with the workforce. This is not an issue just for women. It is an issue for anyone who needs more than just a career to be fulfilled.
Great post!
[Reply]
July 14, 2009 at 7:18 pm by AnitaI agree, Amber– I think Jack Welch isn’t thinking creatively enough about what’s possible. There are countless bright, ambitious moms out there who have a lot of great ideas and solid work to contribute to the workplace. They also want to be a solidly present parent. With so many new technologies out there increasing how we can work, there’s got to be a way to not lose that productivity.
[Reply]
July 14, 2009 at 6:19 pm by James GoochI think Jack Welch and others who think like him are sick.
There must be a place in the work world for people and their families to function at work and home.
[Reply]
July 14, 2009 at 3:51 pm by AmberI have mixed feelings. I returned to work part-time after the birth of my first child. It was a good balance for me, and one I went into with eyes wide open. I understood that I was ‘mommy tracking’ myself, and that I was sacrificing a certain level of career advancement for a time.
My husband has made similar concessions. He has chosen work that allows him to be near his kids while they’re small and that gives him a better balance.
I really don’t think it should have to be either / or, though. We lose valuable people and their contributions when we imply that you MUST work 80 hour work weeks or you lack commitment. That your work should be the first and only thing in your life if you want to succeed. I sometimes think that the workplace and large companies are the poorer because many of the people who run them lack perspective outside the board room.
So I made my choice, and I’m living with it. I’m not whining or expecting a reward I haven’t earned. But I also disagree with Jack Welch that it must be this way.
[Reply]
Leave a Comment