Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning a two-month paternity leave after the birth of his daughter this year. He made the announcement on his Facebook page, and said it is “a very personal decision”.
“Priscilla and I are starting to get ready for our daughter’s arrival. We’ve also been thinking about how we are going to take time off during the first months of her life,” he further added in a post on his Facebook page.
This is some great news for Mr. Zuckerberg and Priscilla, and we wish them all the best, though it comes at a time when there are debates about work-life balance in technology companies, and Facebook founder believes that working parents taking time off for their newborns eventually results in a better outcome for their families. However, he has not announced who’ll be the top man at Facebook in his absence.
Notably, the social networking giant allows its employees in the US to take up to four months of paid paternal leave which they can e used all at once or throughout the period of the newborn’s first year.
Zuckerberg revealed to the public back in July in a Facebook post that he and his wife Priscilla Chan were expecting their first child. He also added that they’ve had to suffer three miscarriages before this pregnancy, which is a rather personal disclosure from the networking giant’s founder.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg in response to Zuckerberg’s paternity leave announcement said,”“Enjoy the precious early months with your daughter — I can’t wait to meet her.”
