International bank staff criticize Valentine’s Day deal offering discounted laptops for men, vacuums for women

Employees of international banking and financial services company HSBC were reportedly angered by a Valentine’s Day staff discount critics said had sexist implications.

Staff at the bank’s headquarters in Hong Kong were offered discounts on a variety of products in a multi-page advertisement from an external company, according to Reuters.

The catalog had a “FOR HIM” section featuring laptops, a GoPro camera and other tech items, and a “FOR HER” section with vacuum cleaners, a blender and a kitchen water tap, according to images of the advertisement shared with Reuters.

{mosads}HSBC staff were reportedly upset about the advertisement, which was posted in an internal chatroom and shared with Reuters.

A spokeswoman for HSBC told the newswire that the offer was from a third party source who “manage their own marketing materials,” adding that the bank is “committed to gender diversity in the workplace.”

The offer comes as HSBC is already under fire over its gender pay gap, which was the widest of any large British company in 2017, according to Reuters.

HSBC has vowed to combat the disparity by increasing the ratio of women in senior management roles, among other efforts.