Single & career

[NDGUY88]

Do you single guys feel there's a sense of discrimination in the workplace for older unmarried guys? I am only 25, but I've noticed the one guy over 30 in my office who isn't married seems to be treated a bit unfairly in certain aspects. I am 100% certain I won't be married at 30, but I worry not being married will prevent me from moving up the ladder. Anybody ever experience this?

 

[L B]

It might be that guy regardless of if he's married or not. I am in my 30s and my buddy is in his 40s and we both do well and get along with everyone. No one judge us any different. Actually the ladies love us.

 

[HoneyHitter]

In certain work environments it's pretty common. It also depends on how well you guard your boundaries.

Just because your single and don't have children, a lot of people with children like to assume your private time has NO VALUE. They feel like you are not in a position to refuse working till late in the evening.
They act like having children is something that was out of their control. Of course I realize how accidental pregnancies CAN happen. I've had my share of pregnancy scares too! But don't start guilt-tripping me when you have to face the consequences of you not wrapping it up when you were desparately effin that hideous ***** night-after-night.

Corporate brain-drain
At bigger (500+ employees) companies, the HR departments consist of solely female employees. When times get rough and the company has to lay off an X amount of employees on the workfloor, guess who goes first? Unmarried, childless men. By default.
Why? Because those women would feel bad for laying off someone with a child. Forget about rational, business-like decision making when there's women in charge.

Personal example:
Four years ago I worked at a company with about 30,000 employees. At a certain point they had to lay off around 5,000 employees, to prevent bankruptcy. As a single guy, I was immediately put on the list of people to be dismissed.
Quite frankly, the previous manager I worked with for two years heard about it and thought they were insane for firing one of the few guys who actually knew his job inside-out and did it WELL. He got me transferred to another department.

Bottomline:
As a single guy you ALWAYS have to deliver on the job. No excuses.

 

[NDGUY88]

The thing that worries me is I don't ever want to get married or have kids. The guy I am talking about has a serious gf, so they probably view him as somewhat stable. I worry I'll get passed over bc I won't be seen as "stable" bc I won't be tied down. I work at a fairly small investment firm, so people know your business, whether you want them to or not. And it's hard for me to vocalize the fact I am choosing career over a wife and kids bc I don't want to be ostracized. However, being professionally successful is my biggest goal in life.

 

[donking]

Just say you're dating someone in a long-distance relationship. That's why this girl can't be around during work functions.