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Why It's So Hard to Be a Working Mom. Even at Facebook

25 points by docker_up 8y ago

laurex 8y ago
As more women enter tech, fully remote companies may become more attractive and viable on a larger scale.
- dudul 8y ago
  I wish it was true, but if a company with the resources of Facebook doesn't allow remote or part time work, how can it become really mainstream?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
ng12 8y ago
Raising a child is a job. And not just any job, a stressful 60+ hour a week job. No company can alleviate that.
- sneak 8y ago
  No company with that sort of attitude. While time and attention are finite, good organizations can find better ways of distributing work and responsibilities so that one's job is not the preempting force in one's day to day life. Lots of teams could be productive with smart people that work 3 10-hour days each week.
- chaosbutters 8y ago
  I mean, basically you're on duty 24/7 making sure that creature doesn't try to kill itself through dumb luck. I'd say it is closer to 168 hour a week job during the early years.
dmm 8y ago
It would help a lot if full-time meant <20hrs a week. EDIT: As recommended by Keynes.
- jason_slack 8y ago
  John Maynard Keynes, the Economist, wrote a lot for those that are interested: https://cas2.umkc.edu/economics/people/facultypages/kregel/courses/econ645/winter2011/generaltheory.pdf https://cas2.umkc.edu/economics/people/facultypages/kregel/c...
40acres 8y ago
I'm surprised that Facebook does not have part time options or other accommodations that working mom's can use. At my company you can work part time for reduced pay: ie. take Fridays off and be deduced 2 work days pay per check. A co-worker of mine works from home Fridays and Mondays to be with her daughter, I can't imagine the savings they've accumulated over the past 3-4 years by not having to pay for those days of preschool.
lacker 8y ago
I feel for the author, but this article doesn't seem fair to me. For what it's worth, I was working at Facebook when I had a kid and IMO Facebook has really good parental leave policies. You get four months of leave, but you can use that however you want over the next year. The way that worked for me was taking parental leave days scattered through the year rather than taking off a 4-month chunk of time. So I basically was working part time for a while, even though the article makes it sound like this is impossible. I think the author got a really good deal from Facebook. She worked there for four months, got four months of paid leave, and then quit shortly thereafter. The parental policies are very clear, and she knew she was 5 months pregnant when she took the job, so in a sense this was her plan all along. I don't blame her for leaving when she had a kid. It just seems like chutzpah to complain to the media about Facebook's maternity policies, when those same policies just gave you 4 months of paid leave for a job you only spent 4 months actually working at.
tmaly 8y ago
Raising a kid is a full time job. I think the standard deductions for dependents should be way higher than 4k. If you look at some of the projects in cost to raise a kid, it is huge.

25 points by docker_up 8y ago

laurex 8y ago

As more women enter tech, fully remote companies may become more attractive and viable on a larger scale.

dudul 8y ago
I wish it was true, but if a company with the resources of Facebook doesn't allow remote or part time work, how can it become really mainstream?
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

ng12 8y ago

Raising a child is a job. And not just any job, a stressful 60+ hour a week job. No company can alleviate that.

sneak 8y ago
No company with that sort of attitude. While time and attention are finite, good organizations can find better ways of distributing work and responsibilities so that one's job is not the preempting force in one's day to day life. Lots of teams could be productive with smart people that work 3 10-hour days each week.
chaosbutters 8y ago
I mean, basically you're on duty 24/7 making sure that creature doesn't try to kill itself through dumb luck. I'd say it is closer to 168 hour a week job during the early years.

dmm 8y ago

It would help a lot if full-time meant <20hrs a week. EDIT: As recommended by Keynes.

jason_slack 8y ago
John Maynard Keynes, the Economist, wrote a lot for those that are interested: https://cas2.umkc.edu/economics/people/facultypages/kregel/courses/econ645/winter2011/generaltheory.pdf https://cas2.umkc.edu/economics/people/facultypages/kregel/c...

40acres 8y ago

I'm surprised that Facebook does not have part time options or other accommodations that working mom's can use. At my company you can work part time for reduced pay: ie. take Fridays off and be deduced 2 work days pay per check. A co-worker of mine works from home Fridays and Mondays to be with her daughter, I can't imagine the savings they've accumulated over the past 3-4 years by not having to pay for those days of preschool.

lacker 8y ago

I feel for the author, but this article doesn't seem fair to me. For what it's worth, I was working at Facebook when I had a kid and IMO Facebook has really good parental leave policies. You get four months of leave, but you can use that however you want over the next year. The way that worked for me was taking parental leave days scattered through the year rather than taking off a 4-month chunk of time. So I basically was working part time for a while, even though the article makes it sound like this is impossible. I think the author got a really good deal from Facebook. She worked there for four months, got four months of paid leave, and then quit shortly thereafter. The parental policies are very clear, and she knew she was 5 months pregnant when she took the job, so in a sense this was her plan all along. I don't blame her for leaving when she had a kid. It just seems like chutzpah to complain to the media about Facebook's maternity policies, when those same policies just gave you 4 months of paid leave for a job you only spent 4 months actually working at.

tmaly 8y ago

Raising a kid is a full time job. I think the standard deductions for dependents should be way higher than 4k. If you look at some of the projects in cost to raise a kid, it is huge.