I think it is more about the employees who stay. Giving unlimited PTO is a way to make the remaining employees more happy. So it is like a way to try to balance out the negative effects of the layoff on team moral...
There is nothing unlimited about unlimited PTO. Its a removal of a paid benefit. When they let you go they don't have to pay for accrued PTO.
There is no contract stating how much PTO you can take, its up to your manager, could be zero, could be four weeks, who knows. Could change when your manager changes.
Its an accounting trick to remove PTO from the accounting books and remove a paid benefit to employees.
It's mixed. From my personal observations the more junior folks and the people less up to date on the discourse around unlimited PTO are happier, but people who are aware of the knock-on effects on company culture, pressure to deliver, etc. are unhappy.
I wish I could get unlimited UNpaid time off. 90% of the value I create at work happens during initial factory line bringup and the last few weeks before shipping something. I'd go hang out somewhere cheap and live like a king most of the year
There is no contract stating how much PTO you can take, its up to your manager, could be zero, could be four weeks, who knows. Could change when your manager changes.
Its an accounting trick to remove PTO from the accounting books and remove a paid benefit to employees.