[sgtnoodle]

My company has unlimited vacation. I take time off regularly, and the CTO explicitly calls me out on it in all-hands meetings as someone to emulate.

A coworker that typically holds the heavens up like Atlas felt like he's burning out, so he's about to take 3-6 months off to do yoga in Switzerland or something. Everyone's happy for him. It sucks for project schedules I'm sure, but it's better to take a break and come back fresh than burn out and leave. Another coworker just came back from a 3 month sabbatical, and her fresh mental state will be a great productivity boost.

I just spent a week on a family vacation, then another week volunteering at a solar car race, and then another few days visiting family. I was looking forward to actually getting some focused work done this week, but now I'm out sick and only have the mental capacity to read HN and sleep. I suppose I feel about as productive as I usually do, since I can still respond to people on slack all day!

[wutbrodo]

Yup, this is my experience too. The maximalist complaints about unlimited PTO being a scam seem to be a mix of:

a) sour grapes

b) people being unwilling to admit that they prefer paternalism instead of being capable of making their own decisions about how to balance work and life

(FWIW for me, making my own decision looks like "4-5 wks per year, not including a handful of ad-hoc 3-day weekends throughout the yr")

[kevinmchugh]

I think defined vacation plans: 1) give me a monetary benefit if my manager doesn't allow me to use my vacation 2) allow me to evaluate a job offer more concretely 3) allow me to negotiate confident that a change in manager won't wipe out my gains

Are there other benefits or forms of comp where it's preferable not to agree on amounts beforehand?

[sgtnoodle]

Not to imply you are, but it's certainly possible to over-analyze things. There are plenty of qualitative aspects to a workplace that will compound into financial gain. If you join a worthwhile project with a long term outlook and dedicated and supportive coworkers, then the expected value of any equity you earn will likely be higher than otherwise. My current company's leaders want everyone "doing their life's best work" and would genuinely feel bad if they were wasting everyone's time. That includes themselves, and with every year the company grows and gains more momentum.

To an extent I've been very blessed in my career, and I've always been able to accept new jobs based on my fit with the project and the team. I've also had success negotiating compensation to serve my interests. I've never seriously factored in vacation days into any sort of comparisons. I've never found myself in an environment where my manager had any expectation of proscribing when I should take time off. On the contrary, every manager I've ever had has been wholely supportive whenever I've taken time off. I think a large part of that comes down to my attitude and work ethic. I've certainly become spoiled, though. Unless my situation changes drastically, I wouldn't consider working somewhere with less flexibility than I currently enjoy. I would work for less compensation if it was the right project, though.

[wutbrodo]

I find it completely plausible that some people would prefer limited PTO. My comment specifies the maximalist criticisms, which can't imagine unlimited PTO as anything but a scam.

Ive seen this a million and one times since I started working in tech, including my nontech friends being blown away by the perks of Google and concluding that they must work me like a dog (I worked a hard 35 hrs/wk at the time).