ABSTRACT
Neoliberal models of management emphasize entrepreneurship, self-development and inspiring leadership, accentuating more and more the need for 'soft' personal and interpersonal management skills. This chapter is based on an ethnographic exploration of the lived experiences of employees from a large Romanian company operating in the construction of infrastructure sites. Managers and employees alike see femininity and masculinity as natural states, associated with women and men, respectively. The tone of discussions between managerial women and subordinates are more distant than the relations fostered in men's departments where managers are men and employees both male and female. Even if women employees spend a lot of time at work, top management nonetheless considers them a potential liability because of family demands. As the company employs mostly young people, it is a rather common phenomenon to have women either pregnant or on maternity leave in almost every department.
