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Comment by hashworks | Hacker News Reader

"HR is not your friend" - fuck off with this bullshit. If you're actually being harassed, say something. And your colleagues should be your team, not your enemies. This rivalry thing in companies is pissing me off.

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HR is there to protect the company. It is probably tempting to just remove the disruptor instead of being fair. It is absolutely valid advice.

>HR is there to protect the company. It is probably tempting to just remove the disruptor instead of being fair

Not only is this 100% true, but it's good career advice for everyone- men & women, people at every level of experience, etc. We all should know this at this point

If that is the case in your company, leave. Don't take this as something you have to accept. There are a lot other fish in the sea.

If we make rivalry our norm, what could we ever archive together?

I hear what you are saying, but this approach puts the burden on the woman to leave her job and make the change. The victim shouldn't have to accommodate sexist policies. If you were a man, would you quit in solidarity to help send a message? Doubtful.

There is always rivalry. The problem for women is they bring it out more in men with ego problems.

There's a lot of rivalry amongst women too, it just plays out in different ways and different domains. You can even see this in OP's distrust of the "soft skills" 'team' - that part of the enterprise is precisely where rivalry tends to matter the most.

I mean, this is pretty standard advice for both women and men. The HR department is not your friend, they are not your lawyer (and the lawyers they talk to are not your lawyers), and they are not paid to protect your interests.

I'm sorry this is news to you, but it is just structurally true. It will be true everywhere. If you really need someone to advocate for your interests, you'll need to hire a lawyer.

HR will never be your friend, nor will they advocate for you. They're there to protect the company at all costs, not you.

Please, please report that shit, but also prepare your exit interview.

Dude. Absolutely not true. HR is not your friend and will never be - it's simply a conflict of interests. I've been the idealist before that tried going to HR as a last-ditch effort to make stuff work and lemme tell ya: it's not worth it. Ever.

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