Reich writes: "Netflix just announced it's offering paid leave for new
mothers and fathers for the first year after the birth or adoption of a
child. Other high-tech firms are close behind."
Robert Reich. (photo: Getty Images)
The Fraud of "Family-Friendly" Work
By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog
17 August 15
Netflix just announced it's offering paid leave for new mothers and fathers
for the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. Other high-tech
firms are close behind.
Some big law firms are also getting into the act. Orrick, Herrington &
Sutcliffe is offering 22 paid weeks off for both male and female attorneys.
Even Wall Street is taking baby steps in the direction of family-friendly
work. Goldman Sachs just doubled paid parental leave to four weeks.
All this should be welcome news. Millennials now constitute the largest
segment of the American work force. Many are just forming families, so the
new family-friendly policies seem ideally timed.
But before we celebrate the dawn of a new era, keep two basic truths in
mind.
First, these new policies apply only to a tiny group considered "talent" -
highly educated and in high demand.
They're getting whatever perks firms can throw at them in order to recruit
and keep them.
"Netflix's continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most
talented individuals in their field," writes Tawni Cranz, Netflix's chief
talent officer.
That Neflix has a "chief talent officer" tells you a lot.
Netflix's new policy doesn't apply to all Netflix employees, by the way.
Those in Netflix's DVD division aren't covered. They're not "talent."
They're like the vast majority of American workers - considered easily
replaceable.
Employers treat replaceable workers as costs to be cut, not as assets to be
developed.
Replaceable workers almost never get paid family leave, they get a few paid
sick days, and barely any vacation time.
If such replaceables are eligible for 12 weeks of family leave it's only
because the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (which I am proud to have
implemented when labor secretary under Bill Clinton) requires it.
But Family and Medical leave time doesn't come with pay - which is why only
40 percent of eligible workers can afford to use it. And it doesn't cover
companies or franchisees with fewer than 50 employees.
Almost all other advanced nations provide three or four months paid leave -
to fathers as well as mothers. Plus paid sick leave, generous vacation time,
and limits on how many work hours employers can demand.
The second thing to know about the new family-friendly work policies is that
relatively few talented millennials are taking advantage of them.
They can't take the time.
One of my former Berkeley students who's now at a tech firm across the Bay
told me he's working fifteen-hour days.
Another, who's at a Washington law firm, said she's on call 24-7. Emails
often arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why the emails
haven't been answered.
These young men won't take paternity leave and these young women won't even
get pregnant - because it looks bad.
Forget work-life balance. It's work-as-life.
A recent New York Times story about Amazon reports that when young workers
hit the wall from the unrelenting pace, they're told to climb it.
Why do the talented millennials work so hard?
Partly because being promoted - getting more equity, running a division,
making partner - promises such vast rewards. Vaster rewards than any
generation before them has ever been offered.
Also, you're either on the fast track or you're on a dead-end road.
"I've got to show total dedication," one of my former students explained.
"It's all or nothing."
Which is why millennial men - who research shows have more egalitarian
attitudes about family and gender roles than their predecessors - are
nonetheless failing to live up to their values once they hit the treadmills.
It's also why women on such high-powered career tracks are delaying or
ultimately giving up on being mothers.
Or they're giving up on the fast track.
After the collapse of 2000, the share of women working in high tech dropped
sharply. And although tech recovered, female participation is still 6
percent lower than in 1998.
If they're lucky, women on the fast track can afford to buy their way to
motherhood. Marissa Mayer, appointed Yahoo's CEO while six months pregnant,
was back at her desk two weeks later.
It's possible for such women to have it all - to "lean in" as Sheryl
Sandberg puts it - only because they have enough resources for 24-hour
childcare, car service for the kids and nannies, and all the extra help
needed.
I'm delighted Netflix and other high-powered firms are offering
family-friendly work.
But I take most of it with a grain of silicon. So should you.
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Robert Reich. (photo: Getty Images)
http://robertreich.org/post/126856424555http://robertreich.org/post/12685642
4555
The Fraud of "Family-Friendly" Work
By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog
17 August 15
etflix just announced it's offering paid leave for new mothers and fathers
for the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. Other high-tech
firms are close behind.
Some big law firms are also getting into the act. Orrick, Herrington &
Sutcliffe is offering 22 paid weeks off for both male and female attorneys.
Even Wall Street is taking baby steps in the direction of family-friendly
work. Goldman Sachs just doubled paid parental leave to four weeks.
All this should be welcome news. Millennials now constitute the largest
segment of the American work force. Many are just forming families, so the
new family-friendly policies seem ideally timed.
But before we celebrate the dawn of a new era, keep two basic truths in
mind.
First, these new policies apply only to a tiny group considered "talent" -
highly educated and in high demand.
They're getting whatever perks firms can throw at them in order to recruit
and keep them.
"Netflix's continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most
talented individuals in their field," writes Tawni Cranz, Netflix's chief
talent officer.
That Neflix has a "chief talent officer" tells you a lot.
Netflix's new policy doesn't apply to all Netflix employees, by the way.
Those in Netflix's DVD division aren't covered. They're not "talent."
They're like the vast majority of American workers - considered easily
replaceable.
Employers treat replaceable workers as costs to be cut, not as assets to be
developed.
Replaceable workers almost never get paid family leave, they get a few paid
sick days, and barely any vacation time.
If such replaceables are eligible for 12 weeks of family leave it's only
because the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (which I am proud to have
implemented when labor secretary under Bill Clinton) requires it.
But Family and Medical leave time doesn't come with pay - which is why only
40 percent of eligible workers can afford to use it. And it doesn't cover
companies or franchisees with fewer than 50 employees.
Almost all other advanced nations provide three or four months paid leave -
to fathers as well as mothers. Plus paid sick leave, generous vacation time,
and limits on how many work hours employers can demand.
The second thing to know about the new family-friendly work policies is that
relatively few talented millennials are taking advantage of them.
They can't take the time.
One of my former Berkeley students who's now at a tech firm across the Bay
told me he's working fifteen-hour days.
Another, who's at a Washington law firm, said she's on call 24-7. Emails
often arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why the emails
haven't been answered.
These young men won't take paternity leave and these young women won't even
get pregnant - because it looks bad.
Forget work-life balance. It's work-as-life.
A recent New York Times story about Amazon reports that when young workers
hit the wall from the unrelenting pace, they're told to climb it.
Why do the talented millennials work so hard?
Partly because being promoted - getting more equity, running a division,
making partner - promises such vast rewards. Vaster rewards than any
generation before them has ever been offered.
Also, you're either on the fast track or you're on a dead-end road.
"I've got to show total dedication," one of my former students explained.
"It's all or nothing."
Which is why millennial men - who research shows have more egalitarian
attitudes about family and gender roles than their predecessors - are
nonetheless failing to live up to their values once they hit the treadmills.
It's also why women on such high-powered career tracks are delaying or
ultimately giving up on being mothers.
Or they're giving up on the fast track.
After the collapse of 2000, the share of women working in high tech dropped
sharply. And although tech recovered, female participation is still 6
percent lower than in 1998.
If they're lucky, women on the fast track can afford to buy their way to
motherhood. Marissa Mayer, appointed Yahoo's CEO while six months pregnant,
was back at her desk two weeks later.
It's possible for such women to have it all - to "lean in" as Sheryl
Sandberg puts it - only because they have enough resources for 24-hour
childcare, car service for the kids and nannies, and all the extra help
needed.
I'm delighted Netflix and other high-powered firms are offering
family-friendly work.
But I take most of it with a grain of silicon. So should you.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
