Some of the most qualified, talented and passionate people in the valley are often overlooked by start-ups for not being a cultural fit, which is often code for too old, too much of a parent, too female, too different .
— Doug Ludlow, co-founder of home-repair startup Happy Home Company. The New York Times took a look at the struggles some parents face when working for tech companies, which can be generous with perks but also demanding of their workers time. This might be especially true of startups founded by younger people, but the NYT notes that the culture is starting to change as entrepreneurs become parents themselves and family-friendly becomes a recruiting strategy.
Bret Taylor, the former CTO of Facebook who co-founded a software startup called Quip, doesn t dance around the subject. Quip s founders tell prospective employees at interviews that they leave work at 5:30 because they have kids. It really helps us recruit people who were concerned about the culture at other companies, Taylor told the NYT.
The big tech companies are competing for talent, too. Among their family-friendly offerings: Earlier this year, Intel announced a bonding leave program for parents with new children; Facebook and Yahoo have similar programs. And last year, Apple and Facebook announced they would pay for egg freezing for their employees. But the NYT notes that those perks may not necessarily be completely indicative of the company s overall culture surrounding parenting responsibilities. For example, Yahoo has been criticized for not being flexible enough when it comes to telecommuting, something that might be useful to some parents.
Illustration from Los Angeles Times/MCT archives
