> This feels like more of an effort to create a story than accurate reporting of what life is like inside tech firms right now.

This is very true. The genesis of the story is that at one of the FAANGs (I work for one of them) someone posted a question that kind of made it sound as "parents vs single employees" issue, the media (the NYTimes got the ball rolling) have jumped on this and are fanning the flames at a time when many people are tense and worked up over so many other things.