Rising Star
Related Posts
Mentor
Conversation Starter
More Posts
Enthusiast
Happy Thursday 🐠
Conversation Starter
Additional Posts in Tech
How do companies now view candidates from Meta?
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
I will probably end up hitting 8 weeks this year. Targeting 7-8 next year.
There's no tracker system, and it's definitely not based on seniority. Managers will check on people throughout the year to poke people to take vacation if we haven't taken any, and make sure we have enough coverage so we don't have entire engineering teams just gone for a month at the same time. Managers (as a soft requirement) encourage people to take a minimum of 5 weeks off a year. Of course, this is also to make sure people aren't abusing this generous policy, but I haven't heard of anyone having their PTO requests rejected, only shifted to avoid too much overlap.
We strive for a very healthy and balanced work culture that encourages good mental, physical, and emotional health. We openly talk about therapy, burnout, depression, mental health days, etc. and we all recognize that people do their best work when our home lives, families, and mental health are taken care of.
I feel like this actually encourages everyone to strive to do their best work more efficiently, because we recognize how privileged it is to have such amazing support and trust from our work and colleagues, and we're not constantly burnt out.
There are still times when we have crunch time, deadlines, all hands on deck, and such, where I feel overworked, but knowing that I can say "hey I worked a few late nights last week to meet this deadline, so I'm going to take a couple days off to recharge" balances things out. I feel very lucky for sure, and I hope more and more companies adopt this kind of balanced and trusting work environment :)
I’ve worked for 3 companies with discretionary PTO and each time it was legit. All cultures were great. I had one manager tell me that he expected for me to take at least 30 days a year.
My rule of thumb is two weeks a quarter. I also end up taking occasional days off that might be in excess some quarters.
I tell my team to aim for two weeks a quarter and most get close, I'd say an average of 6 weeks a year across 21 people. I did 7.5 weeks last year and will hit 8 weeks this year.
I’m at 5 weeks so far, have another week at thanksgiving and 1.5 weeks around Christmas and new years. My boss worries about us burning out and encourages us to take time off.
I work at a public high tech company in silicon valley. I took zero vacation during covid, 2 weeks last year and planned to take 3 weeks this year. Company culture frowns upon anyone taking more than that. The "unlimited PTO" is just a bait to attract people to work for the company but in reality, if upper management sees you taking more than 3 weeks, they frown upon it. And even if you are away on vacation, they still ping you in slack and will text and email you asking you about work and still expect you to answer them while on vacation!
3 weeks
I took 3 this year as well, but only 2 the year before. My boss said I should plan to take at least one a quarter.
I am based in the US, but work for a global company that is not a startup. I take ~35 days off (7wks) off with a company minimum of 25 days (5wks) and the company culture supports that decision.
My partner worked for a US startup with unlimited PTO and only took 15 days (3 wks) because their company culture did not support taking more than that off (e.g. they would deny the PTO request saying it was a bad time to take off or quote the company average, etcetera)
I’ve taken about 25 days this year so far and will probably take a couple more before the year is out. Members of my team have taken around the same number. Thought my manager tried to tell us it’s not actually unlimited and we should only be taking 15-20 days but she keeps approving the PTO
I will typically take ~40 days a year not counting company holidays
I will take 10 weeks this year. If you’re a high-performer, no one bats an eye—I think it’s very different for those whose work may not be as consistent.
5ish weeks on average, not including sick days.
2 weeks, but I’m trying to be better about it. I’m hoping to take more time next year and not feel guilty for taking the time off.
Managers in my department tell us that they expect us to take off "1 week per quarter," but in my mind, if I'm doing what's "expected," then that means I have 4 weeks of PTO and not "unlimited," so I take 5-6 instead bc f*** the system. Some quarters, this mean my bonus takes a hit because it's tied to utilization, but time off/WLB is far more crucial for my mental health and general happiness than money. I'm probably on the higher end for PTO in my department if I had to guess, but I know I'm not alone, and I imagine I'm very close to average outside the billable departments.
My other thought is that I work for a global company, so I'm going to try to take as much vacation as the average European does. If they can do it and the world keeps turning, why can't we (American employees)?
7-8 weeks
I'll be at not quite 3 weeks by the end of this year, but it's because I was on maternity leave for 18 weeks in the beginning of the year. Last year, I used about 3 weeks as well. It's socially acceptable to use more than that (I'd say people average like a months worth), but I try to be conservative out of habit from old jobs where we only got about 2-3 weeks.
Unlimited PTO must be nice…
It sounds nice, but the statistics I've seen show PTO usage at organizations with "unlimited" policies is even lower than those with more traditional PTO accrual. "Take what you need" often turns into "Do you really need that?"
When I was being interviewed for my current position I told the interviewer (now my boss) that I had between three and for weeks of PTO, and if I took this position I intended to use between three and four weeks of PTO. I think he actually squirmed. He clearly expected that members if his team would be so busy they wouldn't really take time off, regardless of what company policy was.
4 full weeks and then a long weekend monthly-ish. But Fridays are light so sometimes I don’t miss much on the long weekends.
I started in March, and I've taken 18 days off. I'll be going to Japan/Thailand for about 3 weeks next September.
Couple of weeks a year..we have had unlimited PTO for some time but I’ve seen only a handful of people really embrace it.
I take between 25 and 30 days every year, depending on how much I travel or family events I have to attend. The company policy is to take *at least* 20 days a year, anyone who doesn't take that much is pretty much forced to take them in December at the end of the year.
I take 5 weeks. This does not include paid holidays or the mental wellness days they give us.
It depends on the year. Some years I've taken 6-7 weeks plus our two shutdown weeks. Others it's been 2 weeks plus the 2 shutdown weeks.
That being said I feel I have enough flexibility that I don't need to take vacation to go do normal life things, I just manage my schedule accordingly. And when I do plan for that extended actual vacation I've never had anyone deny me or make me feel guilty about taking multiple weeks off. If anything the message from higher ups was to take more vacation and not burn out.
Rising Star
Wow, I wish my company's management was like that. They just want people to keep working and take as little time off as possible