Google increases parental leave policy to nearly 6 months | Hacker News Reader

Google increases parental leave policy to nearly 6 months

businessinsider.com

12 points0xedb13 comments

Bizarre that this is news in the states when it’d be considered stingy across most of Europe.

I've avoided applying to Google because I hear their work/life balance is terrible. I wonder if that has changed in the last 8 years? I'm curious what it's like to work for them lately.

Disclaimer: I work at Google.

My current impression is that - on average - Google is known for having the best WLB across the big tech companies.

I think that is the trade off for higher than average salaries and one heck of a foot in the (tech) door. I do have a friend working there now, he seems mostly content with it. I doubt he’ll be switching anytime soon.

If a business can survive me not being there for 6 months, then it's not a place I'd want to be at. Imagine having so little impact that you're just an interchangeable cog in a wheel. Although there would be an obvious upside[0]

[0] https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/man-skipped-work-for-...

If it couldn't it's a terribly run company. Bus factor can strike at any time.

Exactly.

Especially since having a kid (with the exception of adoption) is the slowest "bus" you can get hit by. You often get months of warning to work on a transition plan.

I recognize that it feels good to be irreplaceable and this can help you in negotiation, but it also feels good to not have the stress of being the linchpin of an entire business or department. I’d much prefer to be able to spend time with my newborn then have that hanging over my head the entire time I’m away from my desk.

The entire developed world(with the exception of the US) seems to manage OK with multi-quarter parental leave...

Yeah, stay away from companies with generous employee benefits. That will show them!

I had a previous google account rep who had 5 children while at google and she made sure to use every day of her leave every time.

This is definitely going to help with their recruiting.

I suppose you’d be sad to learn that virtually all of the top paying tech companies have generous parental leave policies.

If you want a more extreme case, I hear Netflix gives up to 12 months of leave - and employees commonly take the full amount!

"The graveyards are full of people the world could not do without."

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