Netflix’s announcement, on Tuesday, that it will start offering new moms and dads up to a year of paid leave has the tone of a parent whose leniency is strategic: “At Netflix, we work hard to foster a ‘freedom and responsibility’ culture that gives our employees context about our business and the freedom to make their own decisions along with the accompanying responsibility,” said Tawni Cranz, the company’s chief talent officer. Netflix will let employees nationwide decide how to spend the year after the birth or adoption of a child—working full time, part time, not at all, or each of the above at different times. The company will, according to Cranz, “just keep paying them” throughout the year. This means an employee might choose to take twelve months off and receive paychecks the whole time; for many employees, this will amount to six figures.
Considered on its own, Netflix’s plan might seem mind-boggling, but this is Silicon Valley, where extravagant benefits are the norm. Companies routinely offer on-site medical care and massages; they build gyms at their headquarters, and cafeterias with organic, farm-fresh meals. Increasingly, they also offer impressive variations on traditional perks—unlimited vacation, for example, is typical in Silicon Valley. Facebook offers sixteen weeks of paid parental leave to U.S. employees; Google gives eighteen to mothers and twelve to fathers. On Wednesday, Microsoft, maybe prompted by Netflix’s announcement, said it would start giving twenty weeks of paid leave to new moms and twelve weeks to dads.
[For more of this story, written by Vauhini Vara, go to http://www.newyorker.com/busin...-remains-a-privilege]
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