Dear Ms. Pao:

Shame on you. Your recent announcement that Reddit would not negotiate salaries is a terrible choice for your company and a bad sign of the way things have become in our society. You were recently quoted in the press:

“Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate.”

There is so much wrong with this statement, it is hard to know where to start. First, how insulting to the many women I know who are tough negotiators. Real Estate brokers, HR directors, and CEOs that I know ought to be offended by that sweeping generalization. I feel like that if I had made that statement (and I wouldn't, because I don't agree with it) I would be labeled sexist for implying that all women are somehow less than all men.

But the truth is that different people do have different skills as much as it irks our society to agree to it. A lot of engineers (male or female) don't negotiate well. Many don't write and speak well. I'm that odd engineer that does write. Why shouldn't I expect better compensation if my job requires communications?

That's the real problem with your statement and your new policy. Negotiation (and communications, but that's another story) are core business skills. A programmer doesn't have to be able to do either, but the best ones do. Why? Because everything is a sale. Even if I never deal with a contract or directly talk to a customer, my ability to negotiate with team mates, other teams, and internal stakeholders is crucial to the health of the project, the company, and my career. There's nothing wrong with rewarding people who have relevant skills (professional sports is the last place that apparently understands that). If you can't or won't negotiate, then you probably deserve less than someone who can unless you have a very unusual job where that is of no value.

I recently wrote about how companies now say "we don't negotiate" as a way of getting their way. As I pointed out there, when you do this, guess what happens to people who negotiate? They go somewhere else! Because, as you know, if you aren't willing to walk away you aren't negotiating. If I were one of your shareholders, I'd be very concerned about the kind of workforce you are building and how they will negotiate with each other and outside entities.

To be competitive, we need to build diverse organizations where people have different strengths. Discouraging people from having a core strength is not the answer. Look at the wonderful efforts being made by organizations like girlstart and others to get women involved in STEM. Who would take them seriously if they wanted to reduce engineering curriculum (for example) so more women would graduate? That would be highly offensive and a bad business decision. Yet, there's really no difference in what you've suggested. Instead of raising women up in a skill that many women are good at, level the playing field for them by punishing the capable (both men and women, alike).

It seems to me that either you've chosen to force your will on employees and decided to hide it in the guise of equality, or you've insulted all the women in the workforce who don't need a hand up. Either way, shame on you.

Regards,

Al Williams

P.S. The opinions expressed are solely my own.