More employee leave coverage, less leave admin: Groq’s switch to Sparrow

Groq delivers fast, efficient AI inference. The company’s LPU-based system, which they pioneered in 2016, is the only custom-built inference chip that gives developers the speed they need without breaking their business’s bottom line.

Groq’s mission is to make high-performance AI more accessible and affordable—and they’re moving fast to fulfill it. “We’re growing tremendously,” said Jen Bucki, Talent Program Manager at Groq.

“We’re hiring a lot of amazing people across a variety of states—and we can’t afford to be slowed down by administrative headaches and compliance when it comes to leaves.”

To automate leave administration and better support their employees, Groq turned to Sparrow for full-service employee leave management.

The challenge: Managing employee leaves with an international—and rapidly growing—team

Before partnering with Sparrow, Groq used a different leave management provider. Bucki and her team appreciated the vendor’s efficiency, but they had significant gaps in their leave management system, namely when it came to supporting employee leaves in Canada.

“We have a lot of key employees in Canada, and employee leave is complex there,” explained Bucki. “Our previous leave vendor wouldn’t administer Canadian leaves, and we didn’t want to go all in on a platform that couldn’t support what is a fast-growing and critical office for us.”

Canadian leave expertise was Groq’s primary reason for switching to Sparrow, but other aspects of Sparrow’s solution appealed to them, too. At the top of the list: Sparrow’s pay-on-utilization fee structure and comprehensive payroll services.

“Our previous vendor’s payroll component wasn’t as robust as Sparrow’s, and we needed a better system,” Bucki explained.

Along with more compliance and administrative support, Groq wanted to ensure that employees would continue to receive excellent care leading up to and during their leaves.

“It’s critical that every one of our employees has a great customer service experience when they’re involved in any kind of HR process, but especially leave,” said Bucki.

“I love that I barely have to do anything when it comes to leave.”

The solution: Partner with Sparrow to guarantee Canadian leave compliance and reduce leave admin work

Outsourcing employee leave management to Sparrow has freed up Bucki and her team to focus on other crucial parts of their job, like recruiting and onboarding new hires. “I love that I barely have to do anything when it comes to leave,” she said.

Bucki’s main responsibility is to input an employee’s information into the Sparrow dashboard, and Sparrow takes over from there. “It’s so easy,” she added. “If I was designing a perfect leave administrator, it would function exactly like Sparrow.”

On top of tracking employee leaves in the dashboard, Sparrow completes and submits all the benefits paperwork for Groq’s HR team and employees. Sparrow Leave Specialists also stay up to date on different leave law nuances, so Groq stays compliant with leave policies everywhere their employees live and work.

“Sparrow is an extension of the Groq team—and that’s invaluable.”

“There’s a lot of coordination involved with our company leave policy,” Bucki explained. “Being a small company, we don’t have the bandwidth to be experts in every state for leave of absence.”

Sparrow’s automatic payroll calculations and custom reports have also streamlined the payroll team’s weekly workflows, Bucki explained. “Sparrow’s work calculating and cross-checking payroll components, like state leave benefits and private disability benefits, is a huge administrative relief.”

She also appreciates the Sparrow dashboard, which is updated in real time with both high-level and granular employee leave information, including leave start and end dates, leave types, and pay breakdowns. “I really rely on the dashboard—it’s my source of truth,” Bucki said.

“Our employees really feel like they’re being taken care of. And not just by a professional third-party vendor, but by a trustworthy, aligned partner.”

Consistent customer service for employees on leave

Sparrow’s end-to-end leave administration doesn’t just benefit Bucki’s team—it also gives Groq employees the best possible leave experience. Sparrow Leave Specialists work hand in hand with Groq employees to facilitate their leaves and ensure they get all the benefits they’re entitled to.

“It brings me a lot of peace of mind knowing that our employees get to talk about their benefits and needs with people who are all experts in leave,” Bucki said. “It feels very well worth the dollars that we spend.”

Every new leave kicks off with a one-on-one introductory call, where Sparrow Leave Specialists explain the process of applying for state benefits and answer employee questions. Then Sparrow completes and submits benefits paperwork on behalf of Groq employees, and Sparrow Leave Specialists contact health insurance providers and state agency representatives throughout the process to gather extra documents or check in on an application’s status.

“Our employees really feel like they’re being taken care of,” added Bucki. And not just by a professional third-party vendor, but by a trustworthy, aligned partner.

“Sparrow is an extension of the Groq team—and that’s invaluable,” she said.

“I really rely on the Sparrow dashboard—it’s my source of truth.”

Shaping the future of AI

The future is full of promise for Groq. The company recently raised a staggering $750 million in new financing at a post-money valuation of $6.9 billion. Bucki said a big portion of funding will go toward continuing to hire innovative talent.

“Groq is in a very high-demand, cutting-edge space right now,” she said. “It’s a rare opportunity to be part of a company like this—and we’re all excited for what’s ahead.”

Sparrow simplifies employee leave management, so People teams have more time to nurture and discover new talent. Find out exactly what we offer or book a demo now.