In today’s competitive environment, building a successful career in the tech industry requires a lot of determination, hard work and skill. Doing so as a woman, in a male dominated industry, is even harder. But imagine working full-time for a tech company in a highly demanding job role as a single mother. You’re expected to give your 100% at work while raising your children alone.
It’s certainly a hard thing to do. Yet millions of talented single mothers are managing it every day. According to Statista, there are more than 15 million single mothers in the US. Most of them do not work in the tech industry, of course.
But those who do, are in much friendlier working conditions as compared to the other industries. There’s still room for improvement but tech companies are leading the way in caring for the single mothers working for them.
If you’re a single mother looking for job opportunities in the tech industry, here are a few companies that understand your circumstances and will support you in achieving work-life balance.
Facebook is not only a social media giant but also one of the best places to work for single parents, especially mothers. Along with flexible working hours, remote working options, more than 100 lactation rooms, and onsite childcare, which is great for single moms, Facebook offers 4 complete months of paid parental leaves and up to $4000 in “baby cash” to take care of your newborn.
One of the reasons why Facebook’s top management cares for parents in general and single mothers in particular is because Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook, became a single mother herself after her husband passed away in 2015. She even posted an emotional message on her Facebook profile acknowledging the difficulties single mothers face while working as full time employees.
Mark Zuckerberg also went for a 2 months parental leave on the birth of his first child and a month’s leave on his second child.
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Facebook.
Google is considered as one of the best employers in the world because of its employee friendly policies, amazing workplace environment and innovative culture. It offers upto 22 weeks of paid leave to new mothers, $500 in baby cash, lactation rooms and flexible working hours.
Google also has 4 dedicated child-care centers for “Googler Kids” near its headquarters. As a rare benefit, Google also pays 50% salary of a deceased employee to their surviving partner or spouse for the next 10 years.
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Google.
Twitter is the platform where many of the recent movements and rights campaigns like #MeToo, #TakeAKnee #EqualPay, #BlackLivesMatter etc. first started. So it’s no surprise that the company itself is quite conscious about the rights of its employees.
Twitter offers 20 weeks of paid paternity leaves to all its employees anywhere in the world. The vibrant social media company also offers flexible working hours and remote working facilities for certain roles. The company also has lactation rooms in most of its offices around the world.
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Google.
Etsy
Etsy is one of the world’s fastest growing ecommerce marketplace platforms. It is another tech company that particularly cares about its female employees. More than 54% of Etsy’s workforce comprises of women. They have a generous 26 week parental leave policy that employees can utilize at their convenience within 2 years of their child’s birth.
Etsy also offers remote working and flexible working hours for most of tis employees which allows single mothers to account for any emergency needs of their children while they’re at work.
A year after introducing extended parental leaves, Etsy revealed its impact on their employee productivity level. Unlike popular belief, the policy did not negatively impact the careers of any of the 48 employees that utilized their leaves.
In fact, 35% of them got promoted within 1 year of returning from their leaves which reinforced the argument that happier employees are generally more productive.
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Google.
Airbnb
More than 40% employees working at Airbnb are women and the company certainly cares about them. Their website’s “About” page even has a tribute video in which different Airbnb employees share how their mothers have inspired them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idmHejjVfVs
Other than the standard benefits of working in a tech company like telecommuting and flexible working hours, Airbnb offers 4 months of fully paid parental leaves and has several lactation rooms in its office buildings. The company also offers family health and dental coverage, along with a special vacation allowance of $2000 that employees can use to stay at any Airbnb registered facility anywhere in the world once a year.
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Google.
Netflix
Netflix is consistently regarded as one of the best employers in Silicon Valley. In fact, a year few ago an HR policy document of Netflix became so popular among tech executives that Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook) called it one of the most important documents to ever come out of Silicon Valley.
Netflix hires the best of the best. But it also takes good care of them. For single mothers, Netflix offers everything one could ask for. Remote working, flexible working hours, lactation rooms, family health coverage, you name it. Plus, new parents get a full year’s paid leave from Netflix that they can use all at once or in patches.
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Google.
Snap
With over 3000 employees around the globe, Snap Inc. is another large tech company that takes special care of its employees who’re parents or single parents. Snap employees have “unlimited vacations” that can be utilized as long as their responsibilities aren’t compromised. They’re allowed to work remotely and utilize flexible working hours as well. New parents are also eligible for up to 20 weeks of fully paid parental leaves. Employees can also utilize daycare services for their children provided by the company. On top of all that, Snap pays up to $40,00 for infertility treatment or egg freezing in case an employee opts for it
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Google.
Automattic
Automattic, the company behind the world’s biggest blogging platform WordPress, is a truly remarkable place to work at, especially for single mothers. The company works 100% remotely. Which means that all of its 700+ employees work from home and the company pays for any equipment or facilities they need to stay productive. There are no fixed working hours, no daily travelling expenses, no time-wasting traffic jams. Fulltime employees also get 100% medical, dental and vision coverage.
On top of that, Automattic employees get unlimited vacations that they can utilize whenever they want. All employees get 12 months of parental leave and if an employee has been working for the company for more than 1 year, the leaves are fully paid.
Click here to find job opportunities and other details about Google.
Wrapping Up
Raising young children while working full-time as a single mother is a tough job no matter how many corporate benefits you have. But by offering flexibility and creating employee friendly policies, many tech startups are making lives slightly easier for single mothers. Such companies are not only bringing talented female professionals back in the workforce but also fighting stereotypical attitudes about the productivity and usefulness of single-mothers in the workplace.
