How Weight Bias Can Hurt a Career
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
Here's your money briefing for Monday, July 31st. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. For years, there have been laws in the books that protect workers from discrimination over things like age, religion, and gender. Now companies and lawmakers are focusing on discrimination based on weight.
A new study from an organization of human resource officials that looked at this idea of weight bias, that an applicant's weight had factored into hiring decisions, And half of those managers surveyed in a separate poll. They said they preferred interacting with healthy weight employees.
How widespread is weight discrimination in hiring and promotion?
So they admitted that weight was a factor. That's right. And we were surprised by that. But yes. We'll talk with our reporter Ray Smith about the hidden career cost of being overweight after the break.
This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington.
What evidence shows heavier workers earn and advance less?
Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
Companies and governments are taking steps to ban discrimination based on a person's weight. Wall Street Journal reporter Ray Smith looked into this and joins me. So, Ray, what do we know about the potential financial impact of weight discrimination in the workplace?
Study after study shows heavier people are paid and promoted less than thinner colleagues. So you have overweight workers getting paid less to start. Then, if they're being passed over for promotions due to weight discrimination, that's affecting their earnings growth potential over time.
Now, in your reporting, you spoke with several people who have felt bias based on their weight.
What did they tell you? A couple of them told me they would experience things like comments being made, such as judgmental remarks about what they were eating for lunch, for example.
What personal experiences do workers report about weight bias at work?
They also talked about failing to win promotions they believed they were qualified for. And when they would ask for feedback, like from trusted colleagues or off the record, if you will, they would be told things like they didn't show up physically as a leader. Or in one case, someone told me that they told him, everybody knows you're a smart guy. Everybody knows you work hard. You just don't present well because of your size.
I mean, there are career ramifications here, but these comments are cruel, right? Is this something new, this weight bias in the workplace?
You know, I'm glad you asked that because we saw a new study from an organization of human resource officials that looked at this idea of weight bias. And basically what they found in a survey of like more than 1,000 human resource executives was a significant number said an applicant's weight had factored into hiring decisions. And half of those managers surveyed in a separate poll. They said they preferred interacting with healthy weight employees.
So they admitted that weight was a factor.
That's right. And we were surprised by that, but yes.
How has remote work changed experiences for employees facing weight bias?
So what's been the experience of people who have faced weight bias as workers have been transitioning back to the office?
Some of the people I interviewed said they actually prefer remote work. One woman in particular who works in tech told me working remotely has been a relief because she doesn't have to worry about what to wear, you know, things that will call attention to her weight, and she doesn't have to worry about how her physicality is being perceived. It's just not taking up as much brain space now that she's remote. And others have said something similar, that job opportunities opened up when she started interviewing for jobs remotely. You know, she could angle her camera in ways that flattered or played down her weight.
Oh, so if her weight wasn't seen on the screen, she got better results.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:57
2
How widespread is weight discrimination in hiring and promotion?
0:57–1:26
3
What evidence shows heavier workers earn and advance less?
1:26–2:25
4
What personal experiences do workers report about weight bias at work?
2:25–3:30
5
How has remote work changed experiences for employees facing weight bias?
3:30–4:40
6
What legal changes are cities and states making to ban weight discrimination?
4:40–5:24
7
How are companies responding to weight bias internally?
5:24–6:31
8
What legal options exist if someone faces weight discrimination at work?
6:31–7:16
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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