Chinese tech companies have sparked controversy¹ on social media after choosing to motivate their male employees by hiring 'programming cheerleaders'.

中国的科技公司雇佣“程序员鼓励师”（programming cheerleaders）来激励男性员工，此举在社交媒体上引发了争议。

The 'pretty, talented' girls are hired to 'create a fun work environment' for employees of internet companies across the country, according to a social media website in China.

根据中国一家媒体网站的报道，中国国内的互联网公司请来“‘智慧与美貌并存的’女孩，旨在给员工‘创造一个愉悦的工作环境’”。

'Their job includes buying programmers breakfast, chitchatting and playing ping-pong with them,' the post said.

报道称：“她们的工作包括为程序员买早餐，陪他们聊天、打乒乓球。”

An HR manager of one of the companies that apparently² hired three of the 'cheerleaders' told that their programmers were 'mostly male and terrible at socialising.'

一家已雇佣三名女性程序员鼓励师的公司中，人力资源部经理透露，公司里的程序员“男性偏多，社交能力很差。”

'The presence of these girls have greatly improved their job efficiency and motivation,' the HR manager said.

这名经理还表示：“这些女鼓励师激励他们工作，大大提高了工作效率。”

The response on social media to the pictures has been less positive.

社交媒体对此却不怎么乐观。

'Or you know, hire some women who code. Oh wait, that would be too intimidating³ for there man-children, right?' One Facebook user wrote.

一名脸书用户写道：“哎呀，雇些女性编程员嘛。诶，等等，这岂不是会吓到那里的男娃娃们呢？”

'How about the female coders? Do they get some men?' Another said.

还有人说：“女程序员咋办？她们有配备男鼓励师吗？”