Are women more hardworking than men?

I’ve seen quite a few women managers push their staff like dogs/workhorses. Their staff work late into the night and come in early in the morning out of fear. Makes me wonder what kind of life are they leading? While I’m sure there are men managers who are like that also but there seems to be less of them around compared to women managers. That got me wondering why the difference.


The general trend now seems to be that women are taking on more roles in the traditionally male-dominated work place. And they are generally more hard-working. So is it that women are just more hardworking than men? Or is it a recent trend? Or is it something else? Please don’t get me wrong... this is not about gender bias or gender wars etc. Just a look at it and trying to understand the difference in general work attitudes.


Well perhaps we should look at the workplace first.


Today, most of us are working longer hours for so-called higher pays that cannot keep up with real inflation (not official inflation which is manipulated). And the longer the hours we work, the less time we have for our spouse and children. Granted, today your spouse is also probably working late but then what about the kids? Working longer hours also doesn’t guarantee that you be a performer though there are some retarded bosses/managers who equate longer hours as proof of performing. Well, some people will just manipulate this and do the work only after office hours to make it look like they are hardworking. Other staffs then get disillusioned about the performance measurement.


Furthermore, the difference between a performer and non-performer could be just a month’s bonus unless one is the super performer. And to be the super performer, the sacrifice could be so huge only a few are willing to pay that price. And that price is usually family. And this haven’t taken into consideration the cock-sucking, ass-kissing, corporate politics, and backstabbing that comes hand in hand with being the super-performer. Let’s be honest, no one becomes the super performer without politics. Even if you do not play the politics, the one who is promoting you or putting you on the pedestal is definitely playing politics for his/her own personal gain and inadvertently creates negative vibes from others towards innocent-little-you. I know of one such innocent and naive person who is used to the point he don’t even know who he is anymore.


Let’s also face the hard facts, in today’s fast tracked world, no matter how good a performer you are, if you dropped dead today, by tomorrow someone else takes up your role (even if it was temporary until a suitable replacement found), the company moves on at a snap of a finger as if you didn’t exist. The only moments when you “still existed” is when someone can’t find something and someone else puts the blame conveniently on dearly departed you. The only people who remembers you are your family, relatives and close friends.


So coming back to the issue of differences between men and women:


This is just a thought of mine (or if you want to call it a theory, that’s fine by me). Men have generally been the primary force in the economy for decades if not centuries. It so happened that the way society of old was shaped, the men go to work while the women tended to the home. Within the 20th century things started changing. And I think this was accelerated during the 2 world wars. However, ever since money became currency and the rules of money changed, men, over the years, found that no matter how hard they worked (as employees or small self-employed) they just cannot keep up with inflation. We are not talking about the financially educated like what Robert Kiyosaki says. Those are a different category all together (and one that we should all strive to be like).


Anyway, coming back... could it be that since men subconsciously realized that if they kept doing what they are doing as employees, it just won’t get them anywhere and so it’s like a lost cause to fight for in the first place. And so they, whether consciously or subconsciously, just became “lazy”. I know many men who are looking around for opportunities but they know not what they can do. Call it mid-life crisis if you want. Particularly those in the professional field. The problem with being a professional is you become so specialised you can’t do anything else. The feeling of being trapped is there. And after many years in that mucky feeling, eventually the “I care not” attitude sets in. So the “job satisfaction” comes once a month at the end of the month and perhaps a bit of “yippee” comes in once or twice a year during bonus and increment season. This is not to say that men don’t do work. Of course they do. They do the work that is given to them but not necessarily as if they own the company...get the drift. Perhaps this is a result of men knowing that no matter how much they do for the company, at the whim and fancy of the employer, they can be removed and forgotten within a day. They know they are like drones despite all the HRD hype and promises of “our employees are our assets”.


Women on the other hand only recently came into the workforce in force, relatively compared to men that is. This new found “freedom” (or empowerment) if that’s the right word to describe it, gives them the euphoria of being in control. Though I must say it’s more like a false sense of control. Perhaps this is something men came to realize earlier on (being in the work force longer) that the one really in control is the one who signs the pay check. Women may know this but not “own” this fact yet. There is a difference between knowing something intellectually and actually knowing something to the extend it becomes part of you. And so women get their sense of achievement and satisfaction in the work they do. To the point it is like as if they own the company, which BTW is a good attitude and your employer will love you for it but let’s be realistic, they will still not treat you like family.


So today we have many women bosses (managers not employers) who like to tell their staffs to work harder. In my mind, we should be working smarter and not working harder as we all have 24/7 and so working harder sends you to the grave faster as a pauper but that’s my opinion. So could it be that women are at that stage like men were when the industrial age first came about. But because men have already been through more at the workplace for a relatively longer period, more men have become disillusioned whereas women are still more enthusiastic about work being relatively new to the work force. Could this be?


I wonder...hmmm...