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Ugh. This is somehow going to get translated into “vacation = failure” and thats a tragedy. Im used to a culture of 2 weeks max a year because thats whats legal

Ugh. This is somehow going to get translated into “vacation = failure” and thats a tragedy. Im used to a culture of 2 weeks max a year because thats whats legally required, and that amount of time gives you no time to reflect, no time to relax, and little time to come up with unique ways to solve problems. I really hope this was taken out of context.

craftyguy 7y ago
How? 30-something year old Bill was quite successful, and he continued to be successful.
ghshephard 7y ago
Enjoy your two-weeks. A lot of companies in the valley now have "No Allocated Vacation" - which, in many scenarios, means you get Christmas off and that's about it for quite a stretch. (And also, of course, means they don't have to pay out your vacation when you leave - as you never had any coming to you)
- Stratoscope 7y ago
  > "No Allocated Vacation" Of course, they don't call it that, they call it "unlimited vacation." And yes, it means exactly what you said, whatever name it goes by.
- dleslie 7y ago
  That's horrendous.
  - magicbuzz 7y ago
    Interesting to contrast this with the current HN article link to the Washingtonian about Amazon choosing Virginia for the HQ2 location. That article references Moretti’s “The New Geography of Jobs” - companies now seek human capital rather than accumulating physical capital.
- steve19 7y ago
  What's worse is they call it "open" vacation leave and sell it as a perk. Sometimes they even do this with paternal leave as well, selling it as a perk. It really does show there is something sick in the culture when companies sell it and workers accept it.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  I assume you're taking a dig at "unlimited vacation". You should really redirect your anger at your company culture. We have "unlimited vacation" where I work. Even a couple years back when things were not looking good most people took about 4wk which in practice is more like 5wk if you utilize the days off we get before/after major holidays. It's common for the H1Bs to pick a random month and use that time to go home to visit family. I took 3wk or so and it came up in my performance review and I was encouraged to take more if I wanted to. It's not just my team that's like this either. One of the many reasons I prefer to do tech somewhere other than the overpriced west coast meat grinders.
  - ghshephard 7y ago
    Companies have "No Allocated" vacation (By no stretch of the imagination is it unlimited) - for exactly one reason - so they don't have to carry the pay-out liability on their books. But, an ugly side effect, is because there is no allocation, there is also no forcing function for people to "use-it-or-lose-it" - which also means when you are in crunch-time (which defines every startup I've ever worked for in the first 4-5 years) - it effectively means no vacation, excepting Christmas, which still seems to be untouchable (so far).
- thinkingkong 7y ago
  In those cases its dependent on the local jurisdiction. If the state of California or the USA - Im not aware - has no minimum vacation time guarantees then yeah. But if that guarantee exists an employer cannot make up their own rules. Either way it sounds ridiculous.

craftyguy 7y ago

How? 30-something year old Bill was quite successful, and he continued to be successful.

ghshephard 7y ago

Enjoy your two-weeks. A lot of companies in the valley now have "No Allocated Vacation" - which, in many scenarios, means you get Christmas off and that's about it for quite a stretch. (And also, of course, means they don't have to pay out your vacation when you leave - as you never had any coming to you)

Stratoscope 7y ago
> "No Allocated Vacation" Of course, they don't call it that, they call it "unlimited vacation." And yes, it means exactly what you said, whatever name it goes by.
dleslie 7y ago
That's horrendous.
- magicbuzz 7y ago
  Interesting to contrast this with the current HN article link to the Washingtonian about Amazon choosing Virginia for the HQ2 location. That article references Moretti’s “The New Geography of Jobs” - companies now seek human capital rather than accumulating physical capital.
steve19 7y ago
What's worse is they call it "open" vacation leave and sell it as a perk. Sometimes they even do this with paternal leave as well, selling it as a perk. It really does show there is something sick in the culture when companies sell it and workers accept it.
dsfyu404ed 7y ago
I assume you're taking a dig at "unlimited vacation". You should really redirect your anger at your company culture. We have "unlimited vacation" where I work. Even a couple years back when things were not looking good most people took about 4wk which in practice is more like 5wk if you utilize the days off we get before/after major holidays. It's common for the H1Bs to pick a random month and use that time to go home to visit family. I took 3wk or so and it came up in my performance review and I was encouraged to take more if I wanted to. It's not just my team that's like this either. One of the many reasons I prefer to do tech somewhere other than the overpriced west coast meat grinders.
- ghshephard 7y ago
  Companies have "No Allocated" vacation (By no stretch of the imagination is it unlimited) - for exactly one reason - so they don't have to carry the pay-out liability on their books. But, an ugly side effect, is because there is no allocation, there is also no forcing function for people to "use-it-or-lose-it" - which also means when you are in crunch-time (which defines every startup I've ever worked for in the first 4-5 years) - it effectively means no vacation, excepting Christmas, which still seems to be untouchable (so far).
thinkingkong 7y ago
In those cases its dependent on the local jurisdiction. If the state of California or the USA - Im not aware - has no minimum vacation time guarantees then yeah. But if that guarantee exists an employer cannot make up their own rules. Either way it sounds ridiculous.