{"id":12154,"date":"2026-10-08T14:32:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justfineinfotech.com\/as-one-of-the-few-women-at-work-i-pick-my-battles-but-my-new-male-colleagues-are-driving-me-up-a-wall\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T14:32:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:32:24","slug":"as-one-of-the-few-women-at-work-i-pick-my-battles-but-my-new-male-colleagues-are-driving-me-up-a-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justfineinfotech.com\/fr\/as-one-of-the-few-women-at-work-i-pick-my-battles-but-my-new-male-colleagues-are-driving-me-up-a-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"As One of the Few Women at Work, I Pick My Battles. But My New Male Colleagues Are Driving Me Up a Wall."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Oleg Breslavtsev\/Adobe Stock and kues1\/Adobe Stock.<\/figcaption>

Good Job<\/em>\u00a0is Slate\u2019s advice column on work. Have a workplace problem big or small?\u00a0<\/em>Send it to Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir here<\/strong><\/a>. (It\u2019s anonymous!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Good Job<\/p>\n

I work in a large, open office with about 250 people. The recent hiring push has been great for workload and morale. But it also means there are tons of co-workers I don\u2019t know, and even entirely new teams of people I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m one of a handful of women in this otherwise mostly male job, so I try to save my political capital for only important stuff<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m being driven up the wall by smells! A couple of the new guys wear a lot of strong cologne, and the smell is uncomfortable to the point of distraction for me. We don\u2019t have a fragrance policy, and I don\u2019t have a medical reason like an allergy. I just have a sensitive nose. I haven\u2019t mentioned it to anyone, so I\u2019m not sure if other people also find it overpowering. The office is all hot desks, so I never know if I\u2019ll be close to a cologne cloud. It\u2019s so bad I left to work from home<\/a> yesterday. How do I handle this?<\/p>\n

\u2014Incensed by Scents (she\/her)<\/p>\n

Dear Incensed by Scents<\/p>\n

Pee-yew! Any large, open office with about 250 people should have a fragrance policy. With so many people breathing the same air, there are bound to be problems with allergies, headaches, or just annoyance at the musky miasma. Tell your human resources department that some of your colleagues have been wearing strong scents, and it\u2019s interfering with other employees\u2019 ability to concentrate on their work. Ask HR to adopt a fragrance-free or minimal-fragrance policy<\/a> or at least circulate guidance asking staff to put a cork in their cologne bottles.<\/p>\n

The persistence of other people\u2019s perfume and cologne is also an indication that your office space needs better ventilation, especially if your company has hired up quickly and more people are breathing on one another. Ask your office or building manager if they\u2019ve looked into upgrading the HVAC system or adding air purifiers. After you explain how the smells are interfering with your workday, your company might let you expense a desktop air purifier or assign you a permanent desk in a more ventilated area. Better air quality can improve productivity<\/a> and reduce the spread of respiratory diseases<\/a>, as well as waft away unpleasant scents from Pep\u00e9 Le Pew in the next cubicle.<\/p>\n

I have worked in the nonprofit world since graduating from college 15 years ago. I\u2019ve worked my way to a decently paid position with great benefits, but there isn\u2019t any more room at my current organization to move up (nor am I particularly interested in becoming a manager) and I\u2019m starting to feel burnt out in my current role\u2026<\/p>\n