I'd rather not hire a woman who might get pregnant, woman boss says

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I'd rather not hire a woman who might get pregnant, woman boss says

Mother of six running bosses' club says she prefers not to hire women of child-bearing age

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 05 October, 2014, 6:08am
UPDATED : Sunday, 05 October, 2014, 6:08am

The Guardian

Monica Oriol, head of business organisation Circulo de Empresarios, would rather not hire women aged 25 to 45. Photo: SCMP

She was lauded for breaking through the glass ceiling when she became the first woman to lead one of Spain's top business associations.

But last week Monica Oriol was accused of sexism after she said she preferred not to hire women aged between 25 and 45 in case they get pregnant.

The president of the Circulo de Empresarios said she preferred hiring women over the age of 45 or under 25. This, she said, was to avoid "the problem" posed by employees who decide to have a baby.

Her comments have been condemned by business leaders and have made headlines across Spain.

Oriol, a mother of six and president of the Spanish group of companies Seguriber-Umano, apparently made the comments on Thursday at a roundtable discussion.

In front of an audience made up of business leaders from Spain and Latin America, Oriol, 52, argued that women's rights in the workplace had become overly regulated in Spain, to the point where they were isolating women from professional careers.

Noting that her remarks would be "politically incorrect", she went on to say that when it came to hiring, she "preferred women over the age of 45 or less than 25, because when women become pregnant, we end up with a problem".

Among the commentators who attacked her was entrepreneur Gema Lendoiro.

She wrote in her blog for the conservative paper ABC: "The only reason you are sitting in that chair is that before your mother was born, women fought for the rights that you enjoy now without even batting an eyelid."

Two political parties, United Left and Union, Progress and Democracy, called on public administrations to boycott Oriol's company, which holds public contracts ranging from security to cleaning services.

Oriol became president of Circulo de Empresarios two years ago.