Sandvik defines itself as a global, high-tech engineering group, one with a broad portfolio of activities that’s difficult to summarize in one line. With more than 41,000 employees worldwide and sales of nearly $12 billion in 2023, it is certainly one of the biggest – if not the biggest – industrial tech companies you have never heard of.
But while peers and competitors would put carefully curated photos of their machinery, products or buildings on their company front page, Sandvik did something bold and unexpected instead: it put a mosaic of 12 of its employees’ offsprings on its website homepage, leading to a 37-second video inviting site visitors to “meet our employees’ amazing children.”
It sends a clear message: its employees are its most precious asset. I cannot think of a more powerful statement of intent from a multi-billion dollar company looking to promote the introduction of a 14-week global parental leave. That’s right, any employee who becomes a parent will be able to stay with their newborn for up to 98 days.
One of our strategic objectives is to be the employer of choice
Stefan Widing, President and CEO at Sandvik
“One of our strategic objectives is to be the employer of choice,” said Stefan Widing, President and CEO at Sandvik. “We believe that it is crucial for us to be successful as a company; to be able to attract, retain and develop our employees. And we believe that work-life balance is very important for that. With this benefit we think we can improve the work-life balance for new families and people whose families are growing.”
A win-win
The gender-neutral parental leave program will offer 90% of the base salary to all employees in countries where no equivalent or better benefit already exists. Such a feature, according to Dr. Richard Petts, professor of sociology at Ball State University and an expert in parental leave policies, is a “win-win” for employers and employees alike.
“For employees, it provides time away from work to adjust to parenthood, recover, and bond with their new child,” he said. “For employers, it leads to increased worker productivity, job retention, and satisfaction. When employees feel supported by their employer, they are more invested in their work.”
You can hear the rest of the conversation Dr. Petts had with Sandvik’s Nidhi Gokhale in this podcast. In the US, while federal laws mean that public sector workers get up to 12 weeks paid parental leave, private sector employees are in a worse position. Data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in September 2023 showed that only 27% had access to paid family leave benefits, a significant anomaly – in the Western world – given the widespread support, worldwide, for paid maternity (and paternity) leave.
Look closer at the numbers though and something striking crops up. The 27% is an average and in the “natural resource, construction and maintenance” occupational group where Sandvik operates, the situation is even more dire, with less than 20% of employees having access to family leave benefits.
So in a nutshell, if you’ve got itchy feet and are looking either to find a family or expand your existing one, then Sandvik offers a compelling package for prospective parents and existing ones, steps that I would love to see others emulate.
- Sandvik offers career opportunities in many different job areas worldwide. Together we create smarter solutions for our customers and build sustainable progress. Find out more here.