How Volvo aims to lure new talent with Google, Apple at the tops of their employer wish lists

Volvo Cars is in transition. It wants to be a leader in electrified mobility and online retailing, but to do so it needs to attract and retain people who might have companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google at the tops of their lists of potential employers. One way Volvo plans to stand out from rivals both inside and outside the automotive industry -- especially in the U.S. and China -- is by offering one of the industry’s most generous family leave programs. Since April 1, all of Volvo's 40,000-plus employees around the world have been automatically opted in the program, which gives workers with at least one year of service a total of 24 weeks of leave at 80 percent of their base pay. Volvo executive Hanna Fager, a human resources specialist who helped make the policy a reality, concedes that the program will be costly to offer. She believes, however, failing to entice creative and innovative people to both join Volvo stay at the company would have hurt the company's bottom line even more.