So-called “grandternity” leave is rare. Tech company Cisco, consulting firm Mercer and hiring platform HireVue are among the handful companies that offer it. The time off can range from a day to a couple of weeks.
The new form of leave—and other expanding benefits aimed at mid- and late-career employees, such as menopause time off—signal that more employers need older workers. In a tight labor market where there are more than 10 million open jobs, many firms still struggle to keep their most experienced talent from walking out the door while also trying to recruit more in this cohort, which is prized for its historical knowledge and old fashioned work ethic.
“Companies are trying to figure out what to do with older workers because we’ve never had this many,” mentioned Bradley Schurman, chief government of The Super Age, a demographic technique agency that makes use of age information to assist organizations retain and appeal to expertise.
Saga, a U.Okay. firm that sells holidays, insurance coverage and different merchandise geared toward folks ages 50 and over, just lately rolled out 5 days of paid grandternity go away to its 2,500 staff. So far 32 have taken it.
“The view that everyone on this age group is retired merely isn’t the case,” Roisin Mackenzie, chief people officer, said of working grandparents.
The idea came up in 2021 when the company reviewed its benefits through the lens of its customers, Mackenzie said. Saga also started letting grandchildren of its workers attend its on-site day cares and is starting to offer part-time opportunities for people who want to keep working a less intense schedule.
Scott Merry, a 47-year-old IT specialist with Saga in Kent, England, took a week of grandternity leave in February when his second grandchild was born to help care for his 4-year-old grandson, Elliot. Merry called the babysitting gig a full-time job, however short, because his grandson has the kind of toddler energy that revs up from the moment he wakes.
“It was just wonderful,” he mentioned of the household bonding time. “He’s bought me wrapped round his finger.”
Merry’s son, Lewis Merry, said it was a huge relief to have his father there, because his partner had to stay in the hospital longer than originally anticipated.
“We weren’t sure what we were going to do about child care,” the youthful Merry mentioned.
In the U.S., staff ages 50-plus make up greater than a 3rd of the workforce.
“We don’t see that declining any time quickly,” said Carly Roszkowski, AARP’s vice president of financial resilience. The segment of the labor force made up of people ages 75 or older is expected to nearly double over the next decade, according to federal projections.
Within months of joining hiring platform company HireVue as director of rewards, Dallin Johns discovered he would soon be a first-time grandparent. When he shared the news with his team, they filled him in on the firm’s weeklong grandternity leave policy.
“It was the first I’d ever heard of it, and I work in benefits,” Johns mentioned.
Since Johns, 50, lives close to Salt Lake City, and his son’s household is 5 hours away in Boise, Idaho, he determined to attend till his granddaughter, Makiah, was out of the new child stage to take his week off.
In April, the prolonged household rented a home on the Oregon coast for every week of seashore time. When all people else went on a crabbing boat, Johns stayed behind with Makiah, feeding her and soothing her when she cried.
“It’s a visit I’ll always remember and a big a part of my reminiscences have been of holding Makiah in my arms,” he said.
HireVue’s grandternity leave dates back to 2016 when the founder’s executive assistant became a grandmother and wanted to take time off to help her daughter and bond with the new baby. The company formalized the benefit as a way to attract and retain a more diverse workforce, said Natalie Dopp, HireVue’s chief people officer.
In 2017, when Cisco revamped its benefits around “moments that matter,” the corporate started providing three days of paid time without work for grandparents, mentioned Ted Kezios, senior vice chairman of individuals care. Nearly 30% of Cisco’s benefits-eligible staff within the U.S. are 50 and older; almost 800 staff have used the profit prior to now 2½ years.
Legalite, a Melbourne, Australia-based regulation agency, launched two weeks of paid grandternity go away this spring, regardless of the 10-person employees ranging in age from 23 to 38. Marianne Marchesi, the agency’s managing companion, mentioned she hopes the profit will likely be a draw for potential hires who’re older, and famous how her in-laws have been instrumental in serving to with the kid’s care.
“When folks come to work right here, we wish them to remain so long as attainable and would like to see folks by way of the totally different levels of their life,” she said.
At global consulting firm Mercer’s Australia and New Zealand offices, 30% of its workforce is at least 50 years old. Mercer introduced one day of paid grandparent leave in that region last September, said Gaye Morris, chief people and culture officer for Mercer in Australia and New Zealand. Mercer is considering offering paid grandparent leave more widely.
Leanne Delgado, a 56-year-old team lead with Mercer in Melbourne, took her paid time off when her fifth grandchild, Mackenzie, was born in November. Delgado and her husband drove to the hospital to relieve her stepdaughter’s partner from sleeping on the couch in the hospital room. Her stepdaughter, Bethany Delgado, said she had complications during labor, making it difficult to care for Mackenzie for the first few days.
“Leanne having access to this type of leave, rather than eating into her annual or personal leave, made us feel less guilty about accepting her help,” the youthful Delgado mentioned.
