features@ihuxf.UUCP (M.A. Zeszutko) (05/17/85)
> And > look at the "Kelly Girl"-type organizations. (Note both the exclu- > sion of men and the degradation of women in the title - charming, > eh?) They're putting EEO in their ads, but I doubt men are accepted > by clients as readily as women are. > While it's true that the clients may not be as willing to accept men in those positions (except, maybe, at "Manpower" :-), it's no longer "Kelly Girl". It's "Kelly Services". Even when I worked for them, over 5 years ago, as an office temp, I was *not* a "Kelly Girl", I was a "temporary office worker". -- aMAZon @ AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL; ihnp4!ihuxf!features
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong [DCS]) (05/17/85)
In article <2602@ihuxf.UUCP> features@ihuxf.UUCP (M.A. Zeszutko) writes: >> And >> look at the "Kelly Girl"-type organizations. (Note both the exclu- >> sion of men and the degradation of women in the title - charming, >> eh?) They're putting EEO in their ads, but I doubt men are accepted >> by clients as readily as women are. >> > While it's true that the clients may not be as willing to accept >men in those positions (except, maybe, at "Manpower" :-), it's no >longer "Kelly Girl". It's "Kelly Services". Even when I worked for >them, over 5 years ago, as an office temp, I was *not* a "Kelly Girl", >I was a "temporary office worker". >-- > >aMAZon @ AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL; ihnp4!ihuxf!features Kelly has been running a lot of radio ads in Toronto lately and they interview an "employee" of theirs whose a word processor expert. although i think he is actually an actor hired for his voice, the man was talking about "his" job as an office worker and running the word processing machines. Herb Chong... I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble.... UUCP: {decvax|utzoo|ihnp4|allegra|clyde}!watmath!water!watdcsu!herbie CSNET: herbie%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet ARPA: herbie%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa NETNORTH, BITNET, EARN: herbie@watdcs, herbie@watdcsu
resnik@h-sc1.UUCP (philip resnik) (05/19/85)
> > And > > look at the "Kelly Girl"-type organizations. (Note both the exclu- > > sion of men and the degradation of women in the title - charming, > > eh?) They're putting EEO in their ads, but I doubt men are accepted > > by clients as readily as women are. > > > While it's true that the clients may not be as willing to accept > men in those positions (except, maybe, at "Manpower" :-), it's no > longer "Kelly Girl". It's "Kelly Services". Even when I worked for > them, over 5 years ago, as an office temp, I was *not* a "Kelly Girl", > I was a "temporary office worker". > -- I think one point we have to consider here, however, is that a name change does not necessarily constitute an attitude change, nor does it even ensure that people in general will use the new name! My case in point is this: I have a female friend who worked last summer as a "Kelly Girl", *despite* the fact that the name of the organization is now "Kelly Services". She and everybody else referred to "Kelly Girls" without a second thought. (my original phrase, before I deemed it potentially flameable, was "without batting an eyelash"... :-)) Linguistic intertia lives on... --philip
scott@yale.ARPA (Walter Scott) (05/20/85)
In article <2602@ihuxf.UUCP> features@ihuxf.UUCP (M.A. Zeszutko) writes: >> look at the "Kelly Girl"-type organizations. (Note both the exclu- >> sion of men and the degradation of women in the title - charming, >> eh?) They're putting EEO in their ads, but I doubt men are accepted >> by clients as readily as women are. > While it's true that the clients may not be as willing to accept >men in those positions (except, maybe, at "Manpower" :-), it's no >longer "Kelly Girl". It's "Kelly Services". Even when I worked for >them, over 5 years ago, as an office temp, I was *not* a "Kelly Girl", >I was a "temporary office worker". Uh - huh. I don't know about any of the other services, but every ad that I've ever seen for Kelly Services (including recently) always puts in a line saying "THE KELLY GIRL PEOPLE" All of their ads have always looked pretty sicko and patronizing to me. Maybe we can hear from someone who's worked for them recently? My SO is looking for some summer work right now, and even though she could make good money from it, she will NOT go to Kelly or any of those places except as a last resort. From what I've seen of the treatment of temp help and female secretaries in general in places where I've worked, I can see where she's coming from. It's incredible how some (male) managers can treat (female) company secretaries in such an inhuman fashion. Or maybe not so incredible... Walter Scott ...decvax!yale!scott
robertp@weitek.UUCP (Robert Plamondon) (05/22/85)
One thing that everyone seems to have forgotten is that Kelley Services has been around for a LONG time -- it started back when the idea of women as office workers was viewed with great suspicion. Their successful "Kelley Girl" campaign helped get women accepted in the workplace. -- Robert
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (05/22/85)
My wife has been working for Kelly for a couple years now. She doesn't make much money (by my standards) but likes to be free to work or not as she chooses. She has developed a reputation as a fine worker, and has a number of Kelly clients who ask for her specifically, because they know she is competent and capable. Kelly provided her with word processing training at no cost, and she doesn't seem to mind working in clerical positions, even though she has, in the past, been a career professional (government contract specialist) and a manager (ran her own retail business). A secretary in this office has also worked for Kelly and says that she liked doing it. Moral: Kelly may well be fine for older and skilled people who want to exchange higher salaries for freedom, working part-time as they desire. Maybe life as a Kelly temporary is much different if you are a young, sexually attractive, relatively-unskilled female clerical substitute, who is doing it not just for "extra money" but to survive, because she can't get a permanent position. It is probably comparing "apples and oranges" to equate these two extremes. The latter type may well be subject to sexual harassment and advances the former never experiences. In other words, as in everything else, everything you say about anything must be so qualified and hedged with conditions, exceptions, and specifics that your point or message is lost in the detail, if you are to be accurate. (Short form = you can't win.:-) Regards, Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
features@ihuxf.UUCP (M.A. Zeszutko) (05/24/85)
> > One thing that everyone seems to have forgotten is that Kelley Services has > been around for a LONG time -- it started back when the idea of women as > office workers was viewed with great suspicion. Their successful "Kelley > Girl" campaign helped get women accepted in the workplace. > > -- Robert A bit of historical trivia here: I heard recently that a Fortune 100 company would not allow men's and women's coats to be in the same closet together. The reasoning? Some of her hair might get on his coat and cause him trouble with his wife! Nothing beats being treated like a professional... -- aMAZon @ AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL; ihnp4!ihuxf!features
sigma@usl.UUCP (Spiros Triantafyllopoulos) (05/25/85)
> .............................. From what I've seen of the treatment of >temp help and female secretaries in general in places where I've worked, >I can see where she's coming from. It's incredible how some (male) >managers can treat (female) company secretaries in such an inhuman >fashion. Or maybe not so incredible... > >Walter Scott >...decvax!yale!scott It has to do with managerial intellect in general. Not only with male/female confrontations, but with any type of human interaction where one is the boss & the other isn't. Abuse of (female) secretaries is quite common, but let's not blame the male for that. It would rather be the hormones created by the managerial process. I think female managers can abuse female temps quite as well, given the power & its associated feeling. Spiros: ut-sally!usl!sigma
cs1@oddjob.UUCP (Cheryl Stewart) (05/28/85)
And now for something completely different...
Many Kelly Girls, secretaries, etc. get the last laugh. I know one
employee of of a temporary office-staff-type firm who's main income
comes from bona fide corporate espionage. Of course she LOOKS quite
harmless, and is "underpaid" and "abused" (in the social, not physical
sense of the word). But for every dollar she makes over the table,
she makes ten under the table, and the more sexist her "boss" is, the
more she makes him pay for it in sudden, deadly security leaks to rival
companies. So next time you patronize a temp, think twice. This is
the most extreme example I can give concerning the power of the underdog.
But everybody knows that if an executive wants to know what's REALLY
going on in a department several levels beneath him, all's he has to
do is call the secretary...(why do you think some of them look so smug
all the time?) I wouldn't step on ANY secretary's toes, and I don't
think that any boss is well-advised to treat his or her secretary as anything
but a paid professional providing a necessary service. This isn't even
feminism--it's just good common sense. But of course, common sense is
not so common.
That Cheryl Stewart agained@mtxinu.UUCP (Ed Gould) (05/31/85)
> [a description of corporate espionage using temporaries] > > I wouldn't step on ANY secretary's toes, and I don't >think that any boss is well-advised to treat his or her secretary as anything >but a paid professional providing a necessary service. This isn't even >feminism--it's just good common sense. But of course, common sense is >not so common. Not feminism? Feminism is just that same kind of not-so-common sense, applied in relation to women. If people are equal, then treat them equally. Feminism is an application (currently an *extremely* important application) of humanism. -- Ed Gould mt Xinu, 2910 Seventh St., Berkeley, CA 94710 USA {ucbvax,decvax}!mtxinu!ed +1 415 644 0146