After a baby arrives, new moms face challenges around leave and transitioning back to work. Which industry provides a surprisingly welcome work environment for new moms? The tech field, according to new survey results.

Technology news website Recode surveyed new moms in tech to find out about their experiences returning to work after having a baby. A couple hundred moms responded representing workplaces that ranged from small startups to massive companies with over 1,000 employees.

Overall, about half said their experiences were great (48 percent) and even those who had bad personal experiences still enjoyed good benefits like flexibility or child care.

Here are 3 takeaways from tech mom tell-all:

  1. New tech moms enjoy great paid leave benefits. Paid time off runs the gamut from generous to nothing, but 55 percent rated their maternity leave packages as great. The size of the company they work for does matter though.
     
  2. Flexibility to work from home after the baby comes is popular and widely available. Flexibility to telecommute was the most consistent perk for new tech moms with almost two in three (62.5 percent) rating their flexibility high.
     
  3. Childcare is a major pain point for most new moms. While benefits for leave may be great, few employers offer childcare benefits such as in-house childcare or subsidies to cover childcare costs.

These findings are interesting and point to the tech sector as a good place for new moms – despite some of the current negativity toward technology as a workplace for women.

The technology industry has been a leader in providing benefits to working moms. These companies recognize that to attract and retain great talent, they need competitive benefits.

For women, these benefits are critical to allowing them to grow in their jobs and to create paths for other female workers. It’s interesting that while paid leave benefits are often considered a women’s issue, flexibility is something that women really want. Overwhelming numbers of workers (both men and women) say they look for flexibility in a job.

Even as paid leave benefits expand, childcare benefits are still elusive. As women earn more and keep more of what they earn, that frees up resources to pay for childcare. However, there is still room to do more and companies who value their employees may find creative solutions.

The technology sector is demonstrating that it wants to be a great place for women to work and build careers. As they improve their offerings, they will no doubt attract even more women to the field.

And, speaking of tech — don't forget to join IWF on Wednesday, January 31, for cocktails and light bites as we dive into the upsides and downsides of new technologies and their particular impacts on society. It promises to be a lively conversation you don't want to miss! Register HERE!