The Phrase "Hitohira No Yuki" in an Example Sentence

Sachiko, a friend of mine, graduated from a university and joined a Japanese bank about a quarter of a century ago. Based on the bank's rule that every new hire was sent to a branch first so that they could learn the basics of the banking business, she was assigned to a branch in Tokyo with three new graduates, who were all men. At that time, most of the regular workers of not only banks, but also large corporations, e.g., trading companies and manufacturers, were men and female workers were called koshikake, meaning sitting (i.e., working) only for a while until getting what they really want, i.e., finding their permanent employers. Women who were 30 or older and still working were thought to be losers who hadn't been able to find their future husbands.

The branch Sachiko was working for was pretty big. It had more than 50 employees and held a new employee welcome party one month after she started to work. Every employee dined and wined and four new employees for that year but Sachiko danced naked with only underwear to show their gratitude while Sachiko being told to sit next to the branch manager to pour sake and beer for him and laugh at his unlaughable jokes. He suddenly said to Sachiko. "You're hitohira no yuki (a flake of snow). Not only you but also your successors will melt and disappear, but someday some of them may survive and accumulate." He seemed to be satisfied at what he'd said and nodded to himself again and again. It was a quarter of a century ago and just a few years after the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in Japan. 

Sachiko was young and naive at that time, said she. If she were told like this now, she would punch him in the face and call a sexual harassment hotline.