VANCOUVER—As more and more women have fought their way into once male-dominated careers, some employers have been slow to adjust to the needs of female employees. But thanks to some creative and inclusive solutions at Vancouver startup Fusion Marketing, there’s one more badass lady-friendly workplace on the map.
Their secret? A heavily soundproofed, insulated room where female workers can freely sob for loud, long periods of time. Win!
Following up an employee survey in which female employees reported feeling undervalued, under-compensated and dissatisfied with their work environment, Fusion realized it had a problem on its hands and stepped up to fix it.
“When we learned that some women found themselves having to run to the bathroom to cry or slouch behind their computer monitors to hide their tears, we had to face the tough truth that something was broken in our workplace,” VP of operations Mary Brio told reporters.
“The crying room is how telling our female employees, ‘hey, we care about you–go ahead and relax here’” Brio said of the startup that currently boasts a video games room, foosball room and darts room, as well as numerous bean bag areas and beer fridges. Say it with me everybody: You. go. girl.
The room, which boasts a soft couch, gorgeous pillows, dim lighting, and the constant presence of Linda from accounting, has locked down some positive reviews from at first skeptical employees.
“I remember that one time I got passed over for a promotion so they could drag in some guy my boss plays ultimate Frisbee with, I was so angry I had to lock myself in the kitchen for 35 minutes to get it together,” Fusion employee Sarah Marsh said. “But last week, when somebody told me he thought women who go on maternity leave don’t deserve to come back, I could just walk into the crying room and beat up a pillow and nobody said a goddamned thing.”
“So, it’s better than nothing,” Marsh added.
Marsh then excused herself to politely explain to Gary from IT why he can’t jerk off in the crying room. #womengettingitdone
