Kudos to both of you for your realistic and informative points of view.
I didn't start managing people until the 2000s so my experience is somewhat contemporary. But I know it happened...one of my female bosses told me about the "good old days" of business trips where managing directors would drunkenly knock on the hotel doors of female subordinates at 2am. And relatively recently at a prior employer, there was a scandal in the C-Suite where incompetence and romance combined for a control breakdown and major fines and regulatory scrutiny.
Nonetheless, as Sam alluded, it would be pretty hard to suppress an employee based on chromosomes. Compensation and employee performance isn't done in a vacuum...all of my boss' direct reports discuss all high (and low) performers and up-and-comers frequently, seeking ways to challenge them and give them exposure. There are some wokey things that get in the mix, but woman aren't sidelined.
That's life in a sizable corporation. I don't doubt the old boys club still exists in the middle market (or pockets of conglomerates), but honestly with the Great Resignation and supply chain problems and inflation even a misogynistic (or man-hating) manager will work like mad to retain top talent regardless of their sex.
This comment was intriguing...
I do *not* think it means they will try to influence pregnant female employees to get abortions or curtail maternal leave or benefits. But as policy, making this offer makes good sense from both a financial and a PR standpoint.
I NEVER even THOUGHT of proposing abortion "surgery" to an employee as an "option." Most employees make that announcement after the first trimester because of the risk of miscarriage early on and they don't want such a private matter to become public. Thus, if word got around that a manager told a 17-week pregnant Mary "ya know, you COULD get an abortion...the company pays for all costs..." that HR and legal would have a cow.
THAT SAID, I would NOT be surprised if sometime soon, the ghastly idea gets floated that the company is doing pregnant workers a disservice by leaving abortion off the phamplet of "what service the company offers when you're expecting." I hope that idea gets shot down as utterly insensitive and potentially hastening a good employee's departure. "look, honey....I told my boss I am preggers and the company handout has "abortion" next to "prenatal testing" as a service they offer pregnant employees. If they want me to kill our baby, maybe I should look for work elsewhere..."