‘Take turns to get pregnant’: Chinese firm staggers maternity leave to avoid ‘paralysing’ operation, triggers discourse
- The women are employed by a government institution and, by coincidence, were planning to have children around the same time
- China recorded 9.56 million births in 2022, the first time the figure has fallen below 10 million since 1950
Company executives in China who advised three female employees to take turns applying for maternity leave so the business operation would not be “paralysed” has caused a backlash on mainland social media.
Coincidentally, the three unidentified women employed by a government institution were planning to have children around the same time. When senior executives learned of this, they held a meeting with the trio to tell them that they should get pregnant in rotation to minimise inconvenience for the firm, local media reported.
“You need to take turns to get pregnant,” one of the executives reportedly told the women.
One of the women, who is 28 years old, got married before she joined the company earlier this year. She said she had planned on getting pregnant this year even if she did not get the job.
Another woman, aged 37, who works in a similar job, identified in media reports as “F”, had also just been married and wanted to have a baby as soon as possible.
The third woman, identified as “Y”, is also 37 years old and was planning to have her second child.