The latest fad of companies hiring extras to fill out events with desirable people has taken a slightly eye-raising turn for Silicon Valley’s tech businesses.
Several agencies have reported that a ‘record number’ of tech companies in California have dished out $50 to $200 an hour for models to ‘chat up’ party-goers, according to Bloomberg News.
‘I find it really highly disturbing,’ said Adriana Gascoigne, CEO of Girls in Tech to Mercury News.
‘It’s disappointing and deflating to see this news and see how it’s still spreading and how some companies and some people think it’s still OK to treat women this way.
A ‘record number’ of tech companies are dishing out $50 to $200 for models to ‘chat-up’ party-goers, according to Bloomberg News (file picture)
Gascoigne went on to add that many ‘awkward male engineers’ wouldn’t know how to coexist with the opposite sex.
‘I find it really highly disturbing,’ said Adriana Gascoigne, CEO of Girls in Tech to Mercury News
She added: ‘It’s like buying women to exploit their bodies and their physical attributes. Women have to work 10 times as hard to prove ourselves in the world, and this doesn’t help our cause.’
One such agency, the Cre8 Agency, will send 25 women and five men – ‘all good looking’ – to vibe with an almost all-male staff for a San Francisco gaming company, this weekend.
According to Bloomberg, client company officials picked models from photos and had them sign non-disclosure agreements. They even told the models names of employees so that they could easily blend in.
But for Farnaz Kermaani, the agency’s president, scoping out a potential client is a definite prerequisite for business.
‘If somebody is creepy toward me, and I’m the owner of the company, I can guarantee they’ll be creepy to the models,’ she added. ‘Silicon Valley doesn’t have the best reputation.’
Another agency, Models in Tech, rejects potential clients that only want to hire ‘pretty faces.’
CEO Olya Ischukova added that the three-and-a-half-year-old company trains ‘brand ambassadors’ to represent the companies they’ve been hired to satisfy.
The now-Los Angeles based company has its models do such task as checking in guest or running a raffle, the CEO added to Mercury News.
Ischukova continued by stating that gaming companies are an exception to the other clients Models in Tech have.
‘The video gaming industry is a big one for those parties where they invite female models to hang out with those, they call them ‘geeks’ — people who are into games,’ said the CEO who has a master’s degree in public relations from Ulianovsk State University in Russia.
Models in Tech, rejects potential clients that only want to hire ‘pretty faces.’ CEO Olya Ischukova (pictured) added that the company trains ‘brand ambassadors’ to represent the clients they’ve been hired to satisfy
And while the Bloomberg article hinted at possible fingers pointed at Facebook and Google, the former was quick to denounce any participation.
Facebook said Thursday that ‘atmosphere models’ are never hired by the company.
‘Anyone … we hire has a server or other staffing role,’ said Facebook spokeswoman Nora Chan.
Google has not responded to questions.
The Bloomberg report did state that one of the clients was known as ‘one of the largest search engines in the world.’
Silicon Valley, like the rest of the country as of late, has been slammed with sexual assault and harassment controversy. Shervin Pishevar, a venture capitalist known in the area, was said to have caressed an Uber executive’s leg at a Roaring 20s holiday bash that the company threw
Silicon Valley, like the rest of the country as of late, has been slammed with sexual assault and harassment controversy.
Shervin Pishevar, a venture capitalist known in the area, was said to have caressed an Uber executive’s leg at a Roaring 20s holiday bash that the company threw.
The ‘pony defense’ was made infamous at this time as Pishevar defender claimed that the man could not have rubbed the woman because he held a cup in one hand while holding a pony’s leash in the other.
The venture capitalist denied the allegations and the ones following made by other victims.
Another problem presented in Silicon Valley is the lack of women in the tech field that are not hired to be accompanying models.
For example, Google is said to have 31 per cent women in its workforce with only 20 actually working in tech spaces.
Gascoigne, of Girls in Tech, feels that the hiring of these models prevents the progress made on getting more girls in tech.
‘It objectifies the opposite sex,’ Gascoigne added. ‘This is a decision made by the executives in approving the costs of the party. It’s a decision that trickles down and hurts all parts of the business. Women don’t feel safe. They’re not going to feel productive and comfortable in that environment. It’s going to make them want to leave.’