Executive Dads Yearn for Stay-at-Home Status

New York, NY - If more executives had their way, every day would be Fatherís Day. Marking a shift in traditional gender roles, 62% of men in the countryís top income bracket said they would put their careers on hold to become stay-at-home dads, according to a survey conducted by TheLadders.com, the worldís leading $100,000 jobs Web site.



Yet a third of dads would pass up their kidsí soccer goals for scoring points with industry big shots. When asked: Which would be more valuable to you: giving the keynote speech at a convention or attending your childís soccer match, 31% of executives said theyíd rather give the keynote speech.

The vast majority of executives responding to the survey shared the view that the demands of the office are at odds with the demands of family. When asked: Did you feel pressure to return to work after the birth of your child; a 67% majority said ìyes.î This sentiment was echoed in corporate policy towards paternity leave. When asked: How much time does your company allot for paternity leave; 45% said ìnone.î Some companies have taken a more progressive approach to paternity leave: 18% of respondents said they were allotted up to 8 weeks of paternity leave and 12% were allotted 4 weeks (see charts below).

ìSmart employers recognize that even their star employees are balancing all kinds of work/life issues,î explained TheLadders.com President and CEO, Marc Cenedella. ìTo retain top talent, companies need to foster cultures that support both work-life and family-life.î

TheLadders.comís look at fatherhood in the workplace is based on a series of four independent surveys of registered $100k executives conducted on TheLadders.com Web site between May 13, 2005 and June 5, 2005. The number of responses and margin of error for each survey is as follows:

Would you consider taking an extended leave to be a stay-at-home dad?

600 Responses; Margin of Error: 4%.

What would be more valuable to you: giving the keynote speech at a convention or attending your childís soccer match?

480 Responses; Margin of Error: 4.6%

Did you feel pressure to return to work after the birth of your child?

236 Responses; Margin of Error: 6.5%

How much time does your company allot for paternity leave?

332 Responses; Margin of Error: 5.5%

Now reaching over 400,000 readers and featuring over 20,000 new $100k job listings each month, TheLadders.com is the largest online job search service catering exclusively to the $100k market. Marc Cenedella founded TheLadders.com in July 2003 after a tenure as Senior Vice President, Finance & Operations, at HotJobs.com, ultimately shepherding that companyís sale to Yahoo, Inc. (NASD: YHOO) in 2002.