Sheryl Sandberg said men had a 'huge head start' over women in the workplace

It's only a few days since Facebook hired Sir Nick Clegg as its head of global affairs, missing a golden opportunity to hand a top job to a woman.

But now the internet giant's second in command has declared that women face a 'rigged' race in the workplace.

In an article likely to raise eyebrows, Sheryl Sandberg told how men were given a 'huge head start' and women 'are disadvantaged from the beginning'.

Sheryl Sandberg told how men were given a 'huge head start' and women 'are disadvantaged from the beginning' in the workplace

Only last week critics pointed out that Facebook had wasted a chance to give a senior role to a woman when it handed the global affairs position to ex-Liberal Democrat leader Sir Nick.

A senior executive in Silicon Valley, who did not want to be named, said: 'This is yet another male hire in a very male-heavy management team.

'They could have found a woman, but these companies just want to hire people who look like them. It's infuriating.'

In a comment article published in The Wall Street Journal, Miss Sandberg, 49, told of how workplaces must be changed from the bottom up for equality to truly exist.

'Year after year, companies report that they are highly committed to gender diversity. But the proportion of women in their organisations barely budges,' she wrote.

Miss Sandberg noted that women were 'doing their part' by demanding promotions and negotiating salaries but this was falling on deaf ears.

'Then companies need to explain to employees why making a personal commitment to hire, promote, mentor and support women is good not just for business, but for their own careers.' Of the top five management positions at Facebook, just one is filled by a woman – Miss Sandberg herself.

Nick Clegg meets Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg after announcing he would join the social media giant

The board of directors is equally male heavy with nine members – just two of whom are women – a figure which again includes Miss Sandberg.

The comments also come just weeks after Facebook was accused of helping companies to discriminate against women by allowing job adverts to be created which only showed up on male social media users' profiles.

The American Civil Liberties Union complained to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that this was allowing employers to target ads based on gender. It said the practice was illegal.

Miss Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, wrote her article with Rachel Thomas, president of Lean In, a group founded to empower women in the workplace.

Research by Lean In published yesterday, using figures from US businesses, revealed that women hold 38 per cent of manager positions, and men 62 per cent.

Miss Sandberg said: 'Companies need to take bold steps to make the race fair… The fact that men are far more likely than women to get that first promotion to manager is a red flag.

'It's highly doubtful that there are significant enough differences in the qualifications of entry-level men and women to explain this degree of disparity.'