Facebook Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday that he will take a two month long paternity leave after his daughter’s birth. Now that’s a strong statement coming from one of the busiest and the most powerful executives in the world, on the importance of family time. Zuckerberg announced in July this year that he and his wife Priscilla Chan, were expecting a baby girl.
Silicon Valley technology firms have rushed to extend parental leave allowances and other benefits in an attempt to recruit and retain talent, but many workers do not take this advantage, for the fear of falling behind at work or missing out on promotions.
“This is a very personal decision,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page, along with a picture of a stroller, a yellow baby carrier and his dog, Beast. “Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families.”
Facebook, the world’s biggest online social network, allows its U.S. employees to take up to four months of paid maternity or paternity leave, which can be used all at once or throughout the first year of their child’s life, a policy that is generous by U.S. standards.
A 2015 study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 21 percent of employers it surveyed, offered paid maternity leave, and 17 percent provided paid paternity leave.
Zuckerberg, 31, did not say who would be running the company while he is out. It is likely that chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who oversees all of Facebook’s advertising, will assume leadership.
Zuckerberg’s decision is unusual among high-level tech executives, especially men. Yahoo Inc CEO Marissa Mayer took two weeks off after her first child’s birth in 2012, and when she announced she was pregnant with identical twin girls in September, she said she would be taking limited maternity leave and “working throughout.”
Zuckerberg’s post generated more than 50,000 likes in one hour and nearly 3,000 comments. Many of the comments lauded his decision and said it sent a positive message about U.S. parental leave policies. Sandberg commented and congratulated Zuckerberg and his wife. Noting the baby’s upcoming birth, she wrote in her post: “I can’t wait to meet her.”
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)