Life at home as an Adobe Mom
Video call interruptions, spontaneous bursts of energy, help with homework. With our employees working from home and everyday becoming “bring your kids to work” day, we can’t deny that these new “coworkers” are making life at Adobe more colorful.
This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating Adobe Moms who are embodying new definitions of motherhood during this time. We caught up with a few of our exceptional Adobe Moms, who shared what life has been like at home, funny stories with their children, how Adobe has supported them, and more.
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What’s one thing Adobe did during this time that made it easier to be a working mom?
“During this time, and quite frankly since the day I started at Adobe almost 2 years ago, the company has truly allowed me to be present and in the moment for my two sons. Whether it’s pausing to print out homework for distance learning, preparing what feels like the millionth snack in a kitchen that never closes, or helping my 15-year-old navigate a truly atypical start to high school, Adobe has provided me the flexibility to nurture and support my kids and my career without having to choose. I’m grateful for this support that oozes from all levels of the organization!”
— Holly Perez, Senior Manager, Field Communications
“Adobe offered flexibility. During the pandemic I started my working day at 6am and finished at 11pm. I worked 3 hourly intervals. It meant I could look after my two young children and get the job done.”
— Lea Savage, Computer Scientist
“What made being a working mom easier was the flexibility and understanding that Adobe offered—all of which came from the inspiring messages from the leadership team. We have global days-off for all employees, and it helps us recharge and spend time with kids. My 4-year-old son now knows what the Adobe Creative Cloud is, and how to video record, take screenshots and more. And my 15-month-old daughter can say, ‘Mom, job, laptop, charger, phone, meeting,’ and more.”
— Pooja Navadiya, Quality Engineer
“Early on in the pandemic, my husband was self-employed and had a lot more flexibility to spend time with our 6-year-old and 4-year-old daughters. Last fall, the kids went back to “school” (distance learning at YMCA) and preschool respectively. Several weeks ago, he transitioned back to a corporate job and the kindergartener went to hybrid schedule 2 days at her school and we have had many scheduling snafus. One day while my husband went to pick up our preschooler, the kindergartener was home with me. I had a usability test that I was conducting, and I had imagined my child quietly drawing or reading in the living room while I finished up the test, which was being recorded. Halfway through, she walks in and announces that she needs to go to the bathroom, and it was number two. When she was done, she comes back in and tells me that she has wiped 10 times. Luckily, for both announcements she had given me enough notice to mute myself from the test participant. The recording didn’t end up being funny enough to save for posterity.”
— Claudia Yu, Senior User Experience Design Lead
“I recently completed my 1-year anniversary at Adobe and my manager sent me a gift card to celebrate with family as we can’t go out for team lunch during these times. This is probably the first time that my kids learnt about ‘what team lunches are.’ After being fascinated to learn that we go out to restaurants during office hours sometimes, my younger one said, ‘Can we come to your team lunches next time, after Covid ends? Maybe, all kids should be allowed to the team lunches. Can you please check with your manager?’
— Nupur Gupta, Senior Engineering Program Manager
“In 2020 there was not much to laugh about. My son’s school camping trip: canceled. Our family trip to go on a cruise with his grandma: canceled. Seeing friends in person: canceled. Sleepovers: canceled. Baseball season: canceled. Track: canceled.
We went from being an active family, maybe sharing dinner together, to three people living and working in a very small house. The house we have shared for my son’s entire life never actually felt quite so small. Our cottage was built in 1920. I joked that we celebrated the house’s 100th anniversary by never leaving.
For Mother’s Day last year, I wanted to do something really special. I wanted to give my teenage son the chance to throw a pie in my face. The pie in the face bit represents comedy. There is nothing funnier! I then used Adobe tools to make a video of our event. Maybe his working mom is not quite as boring as he thought. I am grateful to work for a company that has worked hard to support us with our Global Days off and the work from home fund. I have felt grateful and supported during this challenging time.”
— Randi Kern, Senior Talent Partner, Executive Search
“When you need to pump, you need to pump! So, you get creative about being on a video conference call while pumping at the same time!”
— Laura Serghiou, Product Manager, Creative Cloud Mobile Apps
“Every time I think of this it makes me laugh. I was in a meeting with a colleague when through my camera I could see my son walking through our living from the bathroom—butt naked after having just taken a bath!”
— Angelina Sayfi, Senior Field Marketing Manager
What’s one way that being a mom has made you a better employee?
“Motherhood challenges me with a lot of things, but the most profound realization is around leadership and teamwork. Becoming a mom propels you into a leadership role. It also uncovers how it takes a village to be successful. In the moments when I need to lean on the folks that surround me, I’ve always been met with encouragement, flexibility and support from my Adobe family. Invest in working-moms and watch your community flourish.”
— Macie De Stefano, Research Program Manager
How we’re supporting families at Adobe
Enhanced leave: We understand that being able to take care of family helps employees to be their best. Through our enhanced leave program, we offer maternity leave up to 26 weeks of paid time off, and parental leave up to 16 weeks of paid time—all at 100% of employees’ salary.
Welcome Back program: Designed to offer additional resources to employees and equip managers to facilitate a seamless transition back to work after an extended leave, this program provides resources to help navigate alternative work schedules, work from home arrangements, reduced work schedules, compressed work weeks, and more.
Adoption assistance: Adopting a child is an exciting and happy time! We give employees a $25,000 reimbursement for eligible adoption expenses. They may be reimbursed for two separate adoptions for a lifetime maximum of $50,000.
Surrogacy assistance: We recognize that families are formed in many ways, and Adobe’s surrogacy assistance is designed to support employees on their journey. Adobe will reimburse employees for nonmedical expenses associated with surrogacy, up to $25,000 per event, with a lifetime maximum of two events.
Wellbeing resources: The health and wellbeing of our employees is always our top priority, and resources are available to alleviate stress and anxiety. Employees have access to resources such as virtual wellbeing seminars, 24/7 counseling services, apps for meditation and personal health coaching, and a wellness reimbursement fund.
Work from home expense fund: As work and home blend into the same space, this fund provides $500 USD to all employees to create comfortable and ergonomically friendly workspaces.
Global days off: Taking time off is important to manage life outside of work or recharge, especially during the pandemic. While we have PTO and COVID-19 time-off benefits available for employees to use, we know that there is power in taking time off together to fully unplug, which is why we instituted regular global days off through July 2021 for all employees.
And more! For a comprehensive list of our benefits, visit our website.
Source : Adobe
