An email was sent out today that we're switching to unlimited pto and won't be an immediate payout
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Anyone who thinks that offering unlimited PTO at a company that lays off employees every quarter is a genuine benefit must think employees are fools. The real goal is to save money on accrued vacation payouts when employees are eventually let go.
@bw NO . They are not paying PTO then you will let go
@164 how can you confirm that if we haven't switched yet? The manager training contradicts what you're saying.
@e3 you're basically telling us that you have an awful manager, really sorry for you. No one in my team has ever been discouraged from taking PTO, not even ahead of huge go-lives that required several people to be trained and asked to step in to help. Any policy is awful if your manager is not a good people manager. Any decent manager will protect you and empower you to take the right amount of PTO to ensure your life isn't just work.
I had unlimited PTO at my previous company and it was great. I actually took more than what I have been able to accrue here. I hate watching my paycheck to see when I might actually get a breather rather than taking it when I need it
I really wish leadership would stop acting on the d-mb questions that are asked during all hands calls.
Unlimited PTO can work well but usually only in high-trust, low-stress environments with leadership that actively models taking those long vacations, in practice it serves as a cost-saving metric for companies that inadvertently suppresses employee time off. The company often becomes a sweat shop where people are afraid to take time off.
@e3 I was already given the talk about how measured productivity with allow more PTO. This was clearly done as a way to reduce the days people take PTO
After the first round of layoffs in 2024, I stopped taking PTO. I’m not naive about how things work anymore. We’ve become like every other company, where people are focused on keeping their jobs, managing perceptions, and doing whatever it takes to keep the business afloat. The reality is that survival often comes down to striking a delicate balance: stay visible enough to remain relevant, but not so visible that you attract unnecessary attention, and above all, don’t make mistakes.
Unlimited PTO sounds great in theory, but in practice, it can be more of a psychological perk than a meaningful benefit. It creates the illusion of flexibility and freedom, but that means very little when you’re laid off with little to no severance. At the end of the day, time off you’re discouraged from taking isn’t much of a benefit, and a company’s promises of work-life balance mean a lot less when there’s no real safety net to fall back on.
@bt Yup, everyone thinks its amazing until they get sacked and the payout is crumbs
They are still paying out your accumulated PTO at termination. It’s like escrow.
Companies do this so that when they lay off employees, they don't have to pay out for any accrued PTO which hadn't been taken.
It's a money-saver for them, disguised as an "unlimited perk" for you.
You'll get guilted-out for taking more than a week off at a time, too, even though technically you have access to an "unlimited" amount to be accessed at any time.