The announcement that Twitter Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal was taking a few weeks of paternity leave for the birth of his second child was greeted with applause.
Many business leaders praised Parag Agrawal for shattering parenting stereotypes. Actor Anushka Sharma said it was about time paternity leave was normalised. Her husband, cricketer Virat Kohli, had also taken time off before the birth of their child in January last year.
Ned Segal, the chief financial officer of Twitter, thanked Agrawal for leading the way for new fathers in leadership roles.
Read : Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to take 'a few weeks' of paternity leave. 'We have your back,' say staff
“I wish leaders did this when I was early in my career and becoming a father,” Segal said. “We have 7,500 people at Twitter who have your back.”
Others felt that just few weeks off were not enough. Twitter gives all new parents paid leave of up to 20 weeks.
“It is wonderful that he is publicly talking about and taking parental leave and ‘a few weeks’ isn’t close to the culture goals Twitter has set with their generous 20 weeks of leave,” said Amy Beacom, the founder and chief executive officer of the Center for Parental Leave Leadership. The centre provides coaching and consultation to working parents and companies who support them.
Others said that Agrawal could show Twitter employees that it was safe for them to avail more leaves by doing so himself, Bloomberg reported.
Reddit co-founder and executive chairperson Alexis Ohanian advised Agrawal to take the time he needed.
“It doesn't have to all be at once, you can split parental leave up, like take a few weeks to make sure everything at home is AOK, then take every Friday off to use the rest of the leave. You'll always be a text message away!”
Ohanian is married to tennis star Serena Williams. The couple have a four-year-old daughter named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.
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