The first is that the company's share price hit another record high in the US, meaning the stock has nearly doubled this year. It's always nice to work at a place where business is booming.

The second, more profound, news is that Netflix has decided to offer its employees "unlimited" paid parental leave. It's not really unlimited, but its still quite generous. In the first year after the birth or adoption of a child, new parents that work for Netflix can take as much or as little time off as they desire, and be fully paid, the company announced.

"Netflix's continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most talented individuals in their field," the company's chief talent officer, Tawni Cranz said in a blog post. "Experience shows people perform better at work when they're not worrying about home."

Parental leave is far from standard and typically not very generous in the US. Yet competition for talent in Silicon Valley is fierce at the moment, so in a sense Netflix is just responding to market conditions. The company already offers employees unlimited vacation time, subject to negotiation with their managers, a policy that has been copied by the likes of Richard Branson at Virgin, and one that has experts divided.

But parental leave is a different matter altogether - and the company's move to make it more generous should be applauded. It's a recognition that looking after your employees and financial growth aren't mutually exclusive, but mutually dependant. Hopefully it spurs other companies to act.

The shame is that Netflix employs no one in Australia now, despite launching its service here earlier this year and amassing thousands of subscribers in the country. A spokesman for the company confirmed: "There are no plans at this stage to open offices in Australia or New Zealand."

Netflix's share price growth has been built on the belief among investors that it can expand to become a truly global product. On Wednesday, the company set a September launch date for the service in Japan, and the world's third largest economy could be a huge market for it.

Netflix's profits now are relatively meagre, but investors see the potential for huge growth if it can spread its content costs out across a global subscriber base. But at the end of the day, as Wednesday's parental leave announcement shows, it realises it needs its employees to achieve that.