That varies by a huge amount depending on company and team and manager. I have unlimited PTO and if I took 8 weeks in a year, I’d be an outlier. I’d also have to be very very careful about optics.
Like I said in another comment the money is stupid high in this industry and country.
I take it of course. And I had unlimited PTO 3 times in 3 different places at this point.
It depend greatly of the implementation. But overall I feel that the only real time off I get is between jobs. Where I usually take one full month. ( if the next job refuse; I take it as a red flag )
It’s not the same, unlimited PTO have to be placed carefully and you have to be mindful about optics.
PTO that you earned and are enumerated on your pay stub are more enforceable.
I would rather have 4 week of normal PTO that a unlimited vacation policies that I’m not sure will be well inplemented.
Large companies tends to do it correctly. In that context I was usually taking 5 weeks. But with some stress and guilt and kinda check my work inbox.
Not the same. But then …you guys have those massive paychecks… I will take them while I can.
The laws and baselines could be better for sure. But in the context of Software Engineering for a talented person it's possible to work for non-FAANG companies that pay quite well and offer things like "unlimited" vacation. Unlimited enough that up to 8 weeks a year spread out a bit is not going to cause any issues.
> how poor people afford kids in this country
They live a different life-style. Much more multi-generational and community support for child raising.