If you want to start a family you better get a new job because now the game is all about the benefits. There can be nothing more valuable than more time spent with your new born child as a working parent. At this point in your career you are thinking more about benefits. Netflix the on line streaming company that produces the hit show House of Cards is now setting a new bar height for the corporate world. The company is now offering its employees a full year of paid leave from their jobs for moms and dads   to take care of their new born babies. Wow! That sounds like something a European company might do for their employees, not America.

Hours later, recently, Microsoft revealed its own offer upping their companies paid parental leave to 12 weeks. In the tech world it is difficult to find competent people and the competition is very high. Companies also know that they are being judged by their worker policies and their culture.  In the United States as new parents, they are legally entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave but Silicone Valley   has gone above and beyond with all kinds of perks to attract the best in their field.  From Facebook and Apple, they are willing to pay for things like egg freezing to AIR B&B’s $2,000 vacation stipend.  Google even has a bowling alley at work to keep their employees happy.

Are the generous leave policies too good to be true? These are all very competitive companies and there probably will be a cultural stigma about taking full advantages of these offers since no one gets this kind of treatment anywhere else in America.  We lost most of our manufacturing along with all the unions who used to fight for jobs and benefits. So go techie and make your   babies with a feeling of security. Let’s hope that this trend for family friendly benefits will also take off into other American industries.