The pregnancy of Marissa Mayer, albeit a happy and exciting news, has spawned a number of issues in terms of the company policies regarding maternity leaves. While Yahoo allows its female employees to take maternity leaves from eight to 16 weeks, the company's CEO, Mayer, opted to take only two weeks off for herself. Although some people might find this decision commendable, a number of experts and members of the public condemned the Yahoo CEO for this move.
In her blog post, titled "Happy personal news," Mayer disclosed that she and her husband, Zack, are expecting their second child. Apart from the joyous new information on her current state, the CEO of Yahoo discovered that she is carrying identical twin girls. While this news caused the couple great joy, the executive also pointed out that she holds one of the key roles in the transition of Yahoo with Alibaba at this point.
Mayer wrote, "Since my pregnancy has been healthy and uncomplicated and since this is a unique time in Yahoo's transformation, I plan to approach the pregnancy and delivery as I did with my son three years ago, taking limited time away and working throughout." Mayer went on to state, "I've shared the news and my plans with Yahoo's Board of Directors and my executive team, and they are incredibly supportive and happy for me. I want to thank them for all of their encouragement as well as their offers of help and continued support." As previously reported, Mayer only took two weeks' worth of maternity leave for her first child - a practice she now intends to replicate once the twins are born.
However, Mayer's decision, albeit clearly beneficial to Yahoo and Alibaba, elicited negative reactions from a number of critics and health experts. Stephanie Coontz, a blogger from CNN, wrote that "Mayer's insistence that she will get back to work so quickly sets a bad precedent for Yahoo's lower-level employees, mothers and fathers, who do not have the job flexibility and cannot afford the extensive social support and backup systems that Mayer and her husband will be able to construct."
While it is understandable for some people to be outraged, it should be taken into consideration that Mayer landed the fifth spot in the list of highest paid CEOs in the S&P 500. Moreover, her pregnancy occurred during a crucial time for Yahoo. Although no indications showed that Mayer was explicitly told to not take a substantial time off from her work, it goes without saying that her presence in the negotiations with Alibaba is crucial. For some people, Mayer is not shunning the idea of maternity leave - rather, she is exhibiting the capacity of a woman to balance work and family life.
