A female Bunnings [Australian hardware store] worker has lifted the lid on the relentless sexism she says she faces in her job saying she is made to feel like a “weak, feeble woman”.
Haley Webber told her TikTok followers she was “constantly overlooked at work”.
The young woman said customers generally “bypass” her to go “straight up to a male co-worker” when they have a question.
Incredibly, she said customers often ask her if she can find someone else to help them –automatically assuming she would have no idea about hardware.
Ms Webber said she didn’t believe customers were being malicious but the situation sent her “spiraling”.
She used the example of a male customer who needed help getting a 44 lb bag off a high shelf.
Ms Webber said she brought the man a step ladder, but he insisted she would not be able to carry the bag.
“He was like, ‘No you are not strong enough’,” she said.
Ms Webber insisted she was strong enough.
“He looked at me like I was a weak feeble woman who wouldn’t be able to handle it. It was only 44 lb it is not that heavy,” she said.
Chief People Officer Damian Zahra told news.com.au that they were “really disappointed to hear one of our team members has experienced disrespectful behavior, which is something we don’t tolerate in our stores”.
“We always encourage our team to raise any concerns they may have with us about issues they’re facing at work, and we have a range of measures in place to support them,” he said.