Nearly a quarter of American workers didn’t take any of their vacation days this year. That’s according to a report published in October from FlexJobs based on a survey of over 3,000 U.S. workers. Despite workers being more burnt out and disengaged than ever, many refuse to take time off.
Could unlimited PTO be to blame?
It’s been well-documented that unlimited PTO may not be the generous gift workers are led to believe. A recent skit from TikToker and comedian Jacob Capozzi assumes the role of “the guy who invented unlimited PTO” to highlight some of the reasons why.
Capozzi poses as an executive who wants to incorporate “something more interesting to get people to want to work here.” One coworker suggests “more competitive pay.” Another chimes in, “what if instead of limiting their time off, we removed the limits entirely?” Cue foreboding music.
During the past decade, unlimited PTO has emerged as a popular benefit in which companies allow workers to take time off at their discretion (pending manager approval). Sounds great, right? Wrong.
“If I gave you my debit card and told you you could spend up to $20, I’d bet my life savings you’d spend $19.50 without hesitation,” Capozzi explains. “But if I were to tell you in that same scenario you had no limit. How much would you spend?” The answer is probably less.
“If we give them 25 days a year, they’ll take 25 because it’s theirs. But if we give them infinity, they’ll hesitate,” the executive in the skit explains. “They’ll work harder. Burn out faster. And best of all, we don’t have to pay them out for unused vacation days.”
There is now no vacation cap at 7% of U.S. employers, according to the Society of Human Resource Management and in data shared with the Wall Street Journal. This has jumped significantly from a decade ago when, in 2014, just 1% of companies offered unlimited PTO as a perk.
Still, a Harris Poll conducted last year found 47% of American workers feel guilty taking time away, and 49% get nervous requesting time off. Rather than deal with the smoke and mirrors of unlimited PTO, one in 10 applicants said they wouldn’t bother applying for a role if it offered it as a benefit, when surveyed by Adobe Acrobat on the biggest red flags in a job listing.
“Just realized that i always brag about my company having unlimited PTO but in my 2 years here i’ve only taken 10 days off… my god im right where they want me aren’t i…,” one commented beneath Capozzi’s video, which has more than 2.3 million views.
“Don’t forget if you use too much you’ll be letting your team down,” another added. “You want to be a team player right?”
On the other hand, many are taking the unlimited PTO policy at face value and are more than happy to use it to their full advantage.
“This only works in America. Nobody feels bad about taking time off in the rest of the world,” one comment suggested. “I’m so glad I don’t relate to this, I’ve lost count of how much pto I used, which is the whole point of unlimited pto,” another wrote.
“Not me gang, sitting at almost 40 days this year,” another wrote. “Y’all be safe tho.”
source https://www.fastcompany.com/91456081/people-on-tiktok-are-dragging-unlimited-pto
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