You are working as a Manager who handles critical projects in a private firm. You have recently been issued a notice by the Human Resource department that categorically highlights gender imbalance in your team and instructs you to recruit more females. Realizing the importance of this matter you decide to roll out vacancy requirements on an urgent basis and close it within a week. You receive several applications and start interviewing female candidates. However, you realize that the top four candidates are married and two of them are expecting their child. During the interviews the candidates commit on their priority for the project, till it finishes and show willingness to work from home, afterwards. What is the course of action that you will take? Explain the factors that you will take into account and justify the merits of the course of action.

1. Merit of the candidate
2. Candidate's genuine interest in the company and their commitment to the company
3. Long term benefit of company
4. The need to close out the gender imbalance urgently

Thus my course of action will be as follows -

• Understand from the candidates whether they have the full support of their families for this job.
• If they say yes, then I will ask the pregnant candidates about the details of pregnancy. The remaining two will be immediately hired.
• I will assess the situation with the pregnant candidates. If it is such that the project will not be compromised, I will hire them.
• Since the candidates have committed their priority for the project, and are willing to work from home, it can be assumed they are committed to the company.
• If I find that there is an element of compromise involved, instead of rejecting the candidates, I will try to offer low-risk positions, with an objective of transferring them to higher positions post-pregnancy.
• If the candidates express fear that their families might withdraw them later on, then I will give them a day to sort out the issue, if possible. Meanwhile, I will keep other candidates as stand-by.