WOMEN IN COMMERCIAL LIFE.

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14654, 7 March 1918, Page 2

WOMEN IN COMMERCIAL LIFE.

A GLOOMY VIEW. ..'

In an editorial the Mercantile Gazstte says: — Two years ago when the advent of voinen clerks was becoming increasingy apparent in all spheres of commercial ictivity it was hoped that women would satisfactorily take the place of the man vho had donned khaki. From inquir,es made of leading men of affairs, and :rom our own observation, we are sorry to state that female labour in this ■cgard has fallen far short of expectations. Long before there was any thought of war . scores of girls had taken up positions in commercial life, and because of the competition then existing between themselves, and because men were available" if need be, those young -women who did delve into commerce usually acquitted themselves with credit. It thus happened that at the outset a considerable number of young women who were highly trained and competent were available. Those employers who were fortunate enough to retain or secure the services of these women imagined that the difficulty of replacing male labour had to a great extent been relieved. But the position of securing really efficient female help for commercial work has been getting worse as the months go by. This in some measure is due to the demand greatly exceeding the supplj*; it is almost impossible fOl girls to receive even elementary training before they are required for advanc: ed work. Admitting these factors, however, the point remains that the average girl-in business to-day is not nearlj as keen to learn the-work or to becomt •proficient as the average youth There is.a certain type of girl who wil do her utmost to succeed, but such i type is rather the exception nowadays In many cases a girl goes to work for { few months and then, because she it taken to task for some laxity in hei duties, decides to stay at home for i time. It may happen that at the offic< which she left she was just getting s grip of things, learning discipline an< on the road to become a trained an< efficient clerk. By 'vacating her posit'O] all this initial training is lost, and th employer is put to expense and troubl

of bringing in another beginner. In afew months the homo life palls • and the girl applies for another position, and history repeats itself. is the unfortunate employer .who is fche chief sufferer. Because of the dearth of labour ho is forced to take what is offering. Never before has there been such a splendid opportunity for young women to establish themselves in modern business. II is true that in some cases the woman has risen to the occasion and proyed herself thoroughly reliable and competent.--; But such cases are not numerous. We are afraid that the demand for. labour coupled with the high rates of pay that are ruling has demoralised the average female helper. Compared to the youth the girl is not so reliable, thinks more of her own personal pleasure than the interests of her employer, and generally fails to assume that degree of responsibility which denotes the efficient 9mployee. One business. executive remarked the other day that in his experience .girl clerks were taking advantage of the present position, and they thought nothing of i'eigning illness if they required the morning off. He-.also stated that in his opinion too many young women looked upon business as merely a means of getting pocket iifebney, they did not regard it hrthe light of earning a Fving and consequently did not thir.k that the "work entrusted to them was of any great consequence. It is quite certain that after the war unless the standard of women labour rises there will be a great many unemployed when the men come back. The incompetents will surely go to the wall. Business men are not crying out that they would sooner have one good male clerk than two or three girls without very good leason. The remedy lies "with the women' themselves, and in-

directly with the parents who are nend ing the younger ones to business. Some sound advice by many parents would be beneficial in more ways than one.