In an industry where the demand for top talent is way larger than the supply, technology companies have to offer the best benefits they can to retain the best people in their ranks.
This is why Netflix has just begun offering unlimited paid leave for new parents within the first year their child is born or adopted. The benefit is offered to mothers and fathers, who are given the freedom to choose whether to go back to work anytime they want, work part-time, or alternate between periods of work and leave while still receiving their normal payments as though they were working full-time.
Netflix Chief Talent Officer Tawni Cranz says this ensures new parents will not have to undergo the hassle of applying for disability pays or state coverage and focus their time on taking care of their new child.
"We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances," Cranz says in a statement. "Each employee gets to figure out what's best for them and their family, and then works with their managers for coverage during their absences."
The new benefit is on top of Netflix's unlimited vacation policy, which allows employees to take as many days off as they want. At the time the video-streaming firm announced this policy, CEO Reed Hastings said Netflix evaluates employees based on what they have done, not on how many hours they worked.
For policies such as these to be successful, employees have to have the right balance of freedom and responsibility, and it ensures that Netflix is peopled by employees who are internally motivated to perform well in their jobs.
"Experience shows people perform better at work when they're not worrying about home," Cranz says, adding that the unlimited paid leave for new parents will help employees become more "focused and dedicated."
This new policy goes way beyond the minimum requirement by federal law, which mandates that companies with more than 50 employees must offer at least 12 weeks off for new parents, with no requirement to pay employees on leave.
But even in Silicon Valley, where the biggest tech companies offer the most outrageous perks to keep their employees, Netflix's new policy definitely trumps all the others. Facebook, for instance, offers four months for new moms and dads, while Google's policy covers for 18 weeks. Meanwhile, Apple offers four weeks off for expectant mothers before birth and 14 weeks after, while fathers receive six weeks off after birth.
