There's a reason we've appeared on Working Mother’s list of the 100 Best Companies for 33 years in a row. Today, 45% of our total workforce are women, and 44% of them are participating in leadership development programs. Women also hold 36% of our corporate executive leadership roles. What's more, we've specifically designed programs and policies to support working moms wherever we can. How do we demonstrate that support? Read on to find out.
1. Paid parental leave
Recent research suggests that "longer maternity leaves may benefit infant health and development," and that's one of the reasons we offer new moms in the U.S. up to 17 paid weeks off. Globally, too, all new parents—maternal, paternal, adoptive or surrogacy-assisted—are able to take eight weeks of paid leave during the first year of the family’s new addition at any of our operating companies.
2. Day care
More than 60% of parents across all income groups say that it is difficult to find affordable and high-quality childcare in their communities, according to a Pew Research Center survey. And cost and quality aside, coordinating day care can also be a logistical nightmare for busy parents. But at Johnson & Johnson, our goal is to support our employees in every way possible—and that’s part of the reason we opened our first Johnson & Johnson Child Development Center in 1990. Today, we have childcare centers at three locations in the U.S. and offer discounts with a nationwide provider. For our teammates outside the U.S., we offer childcare centers at many of our sites, in addition to discounts for childcare in several countries.
3. Breast milk shipping
Nursing moms may hesitate to travel, for fear they won’t be able to safely preserve their breast milk. But we saw that as an opportunity to innovate in order to support working families. The result: We launched a temperature-controlled delivery service that lets moms ship breast milk back home for free while on the road for work.
4. Help with special-needs children
We want children with a wide range of special needs, from autism to physical and intellectual disabilities, to thrive—and we’ve put programs and policies in place to ensure that they can. Plus, we offer additional support, at no extra cost to employees, through the Bright Horizons Special Needs Program.
5. Flexible schedules
We recognize that work/life balance is important—which is why employees can access flexible work schedules. Today, around 75% of our employees are taking advantage of the opportunity.
6. Helping employees to become parents
We celebrate the importance of family—no matter what form it takes. We provide employees with fertility treatments as well as surrogacy and adoption support. In the U.S., our employees can access benefits of up to $35,000 for fertility treatments, $20,000 for adoption (per child under 18) and $20,000 per child for surrogacy. Surrogacy-assisted parents also get eight weeks of paid parental leave.
Key Takeaways?
It’s important to provide robust benefits to new moms and dads—not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. We believe women are more likely to return to jobs they like, and upward mobility in the workplace is tightly tied to job satisfaction. If joining an employer that shares your values—and provides working moms with the resources and support they need to succeed—is important to you, check out all of the opportunities we have available today.