Sir Alan Sugar: “Women employers are more ruthless than men”

by Kate Pritchard - Wednesday, 26th March 2008 - (1) comment - Business comment

In the build up to the next series of The Apprentice, which starts tonight, Sir Alan Sugar’s been getting a few things off his chest. The country’s most outspoken entrepreneur takes a pop at employment legislation and women bosses.

“Be under no illusion,” he told The Times. “Women employers are more conscious of not employing other women because they feel they’re not going to get the value of work out of them.”

The Apprentice star reckons employment laws are counter productive and says bosses should be free to ask female members of staff whether they have children and how they’ll be looked after during working hours.

“I think it’s right for women to be asked the question and I think it’s right for women to volunteer the information.

"Companies have no divine right to help with childcare. Companies employ people. It’s the government’s responsibility to provide childcare.”

[That’s a fair point, but what happens if the powers that be don't take childcare seriously?]

Sir Alan isn’t about to be dragged down by EU employment law on the matter. “I do what I want in that boardroom and if they don’t like it, they can piss off.”

Is he right? Are women bosses more wary of employing females? Let’s hear your views.

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1 Comments

March 27, 2008 8:18pm
Nikki Scrivener Says:

This argument is getting boring. Combining a career with motherhood is only seen as problematic because society has made it so. Good managers, male or female, can’t overlook the right candidate for promotion simply because they’re female, aged 35 and in a stable relationship. True, the government isn’t doing enough to help businesses or families with childcare but that’s because primarily it’s still seen as being an issue for only half of the workforce. We need to reach the stage where raising a family is a joint responsibility. If we’re going to ask employees the question about managing childcare, let’s ask men too. It seems unlikely that employers are going to discount all men of parenting age, as this would pretty much rule out the entire male population! In our company, there would be no female management team if there weren’t supportive partners who are equally responsible for raising our families. When it’s one rule for all maybe we can put this debate to rest once and for all. Nikki Scrivener, Fourth Day PR