Etsy announces half-year parental leave for women and men

Etsy announced Tuesday it would be extending parental leave for both mothers and fathers for up to 26 weeks starting next month.
“When my wife and I adopted our son nearly four years ago, I took the full five weeks of leave we offered at the time,” Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson said in the company’s announcement. “It was the most important way I could have spent that time. Building a company is a team effort that includes the immense support we get from our families.”
The task of balancing work and life has been a continual issue in the tech world in recent years. Last year Netflix made news when it offered a full year of parental leave for salaried employees. And on the other hand, AOL came under fire in 2014 from employee Deanna Fei when its CEO Tim Armstrong bemoaned the cost that two “distressed babies” were having on the company’s bottom line and the need to reduce its 401(k) plan to make up for it. Fei went on to write Girl In Glass about her experience having a special needs baby and a hostile company.
So Etsy, which markets itself as a Good Company, is putting its company leave where its mouth is.
“We want to support and enable parents, regardless of their gender, to play equal roles in building successful companies and nurturing their families,” the company said. “This fits squarely within Etsy’s mission to reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world.”