Gabe Newell, owner and president of Valve Software, said he worries about the stress his employees’ work hours put on their families.
"I think the people who work [at Valve] are having a good time in terms of enjoying their work and not being too stressed out," said Newell during a video conference call with a Tippecanoe Valley High School marketing class. "One thing I’m worried about is the amount of stress that we put on some of the families."
Valve developers are extremely dedicated to their projects. Many put in voluntary overtime on weekends, even though Valve doesn’t ask them to come in.
"You can’t ruin people’s home lives in order to benefit your business or it blows up in the long run," said Newell.
Newell tries to address such concerns with annual family outings. These trips allow everyone to feel like a part of the company, plus they offer an opportunity for employees’ family members to give Newell some constructive criticism.
"I’m sure I’ll have lots of opportunities to talk to people with their families to get a better handle on how that’s working," he said.