GIRL CLERKS

Southland Times, Issue 20205, 16 June 1927, Page 4

GIRL CLERKS

IN CHARGE OF MONEY. ARE THEY RELIABLE? BUSINESS MEN SAY “YES." Professional men in Christchurch are almost unanimous in their opinion that girls are reliable, trustworthy and efficient office workers. Several prominent business men, auditors and accountants whose work has brought them into contact with girls who have responsible positions were interviewed by a Lyttelton Times representative, and their opinion was that with regard to girls in responsible positions in business houses, the recent case of embezzlement that occurred in Christchurch is an isolated case, and that on the whole girls are to be trusted as much as, if not more then men. One gentleman, who has been the employer of girl clerks for many years, stated that on most occasions they were far more useful to their employers than were the men clerks. “They never lean across the counter to talk sport,” he said, “and they never go out for a while ‘to see a man about a dog.’ They seem to take a far greater interest in their work, and in most cases .they show a very great loyalty to their employer. Several times I have had experiences where another firm has offered my girls higher wages to leave me, and every time they have come to me and told me. I have never offered them higher than they were getting to stay on, and yet I have found that it is only occasionally that they will leave. As regards their liability to misuse any funds which come under their control, I think that the possibility of this happening is very remote. It has never happened in my experience. If a girl has the average amount of brains, and is willing to use them for her employer’s benefit, she can command a salary that will enable her to Jive and clothe herself well, if not flashily. No isolated instance of a girl misusing the firm’s money can shake my faith in them as efficient clerks.” An auditor whose profession has brought him in contact with several cases of misappropriated funds echoed the opinion expressed above. “In my opinion there is not one per cent, of the girls working in offices in this city who are not entirely trustworthy where money is concerned,” he said. “In fact, there is not the same possibility of their going wrong as there is of men. Girls in offices, when they have had some little experience (and few employers would put them in a responsible position if they had not) can command a salary which enables them to pay board to their family, if they live at home, or to a boarding house, clothe themselves well, and then have a little to come and go upon. If there : is an amount missing at an office and I have to investigate, I always look at the way a person is living, and compare it with their salary. If a girl is flashily dressed, and indulges in expensive pursuits, then something may be wrong, but it is very rarely that this happens. I can remember when first girls began working in offices, and how sceptical and prejudiced some of the j employers were. I can also remember how 1 they changed their opinions when they had I had experience of them. Again, the em- | ployers select their own staffs, and in nine • cases out of ten they can tell if a girl would J be liable to fall. Nor would a young girl I be immediately placed in a position of j trust. The commercial schools, from which i firms often draw their recruits, w'ould not recommend a girl whom they thought would be untrustworthy. “In my experience,’ he continued, “it is far more likely to be a young newly married man who is to blame. His necessity and temptation is much greater than a girl’s. Much, of course, depends upon the individual, but in the majority of cases my remarks hold good.” Other employers, and men who have come into contact with this question through their work in auditing, bore out the foregoing statements, and in every case where I they themselves had girls working in their | offices, declared that a girl on most occasions takes a bigger interest in her work, and shows more loyalty to her principals than do the men.