Paid sabbaticals

[StormRichards]

I think Zillow sucks at estimating my property value, but they sure sound like a good company to work for.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/27/pf/zillow-employee-6-week-paid-sabbatical/index.html?iid=H_PF_News

[97guns]

Is their estimate low?

[StormRichards]

Is their estimate low?

I certainly believe so. The house directly across the street from me sold for just $6,000 less than their estimate for our property. Our property has an additional 500 sq ft living space, an additional 9000 sq ft lot size, an additional bedroom, fenced yard and patio enclosure. Properties like ours never sell for as low as what they have estimated, and I certainly wouldn't sell it at their estimated value.

In any case, this thread was more about the article and the fact that they encourage their employees (with 6 years experience) to take a 6 week paid sabbatical.

[FLA]

I think that's great, especially at half pay. Their maternity benefits for both mom and dad are better than any I've seen.

[rennigade]

Oh man...it would be hard for me not to take all 6 weeks off each year...even if 3 of them are unpaid. Ive said it before...id travel a lot more if I had more vacation days to use. Next week we're leaving to CO for a week...after that ill be down to 1 day of vacation...sigh. Then I have to wait until August for our next trip already planned...I cant use one single vacation day between then or ill be short. WE do get 10 "sick" days per year that I always use...they're use or lose.

[Mjenn]

We get 6 weeks paid vacation every year, at full pay ... not including holidays - so this is not as lucrative.

We are encouraged to take at least 5 weeks out in a row every summer.

[phantom]

That's pretty cool of them, but 6 years of employment at one place seems like a really long time. One would have to give up a few job hopping related pay bumps to earn that time off. It'd almost be easier to just take a few weeks between one job and the next.

[disneysteve]

That's pretty cool of them, but 6 years of employment at one place seems like a really long time

Really? I wonder how many people share that view.

I've been at my current job for nearly 17 years.

[rennigade]

Really? I wonder how many people share that view.

I've been at my current job for nearly 17 years.

I think it all depends on where you live or how many other opportunities there are.

Where im from in PA...if you find a job with a company that pays well (for the area) then you stay for a looong time if not forever.

Here in DC...people jump around all the time because there is so much opportunity.

I dont even think its an age thing...its just a supply/demand thing.

[phantom]

Really? I wonder how many people share that view.

I've been at my current job for nearly 17 years.

I'm sure it varies from industry to industry. But, I'd consider myself to be in the tech industry, and that's where I'd consider Zillow to be as well. I almost made it to 5 years at one place, but the company sold less than a month before my 5 year anniversary. I think I was in the top 10% of longest tenured employees at the time, and the article claims that only 10% of people at Zillow have been there 6 years or longer.

[disneysteve]

You know, I wonder if this is part of the reason that pensions have largely disappeared. What good is having a pension plan if employees are going to job hop every couple of years? At least with a 401k, whatever money you contribute remains yours after you leave the job. Pensions only work if the employees spend their careers at one place.

[phantom]

The fact I don't expect to stay at any one place for more than a few years is certainly a reason that I don't see pensions as an attractive benefit. It's also a reason I don't place much value in a lot of 401k matches. If it's going to take 5 years for a match to fully vest, I figure it's unlikely I'll get to keep all of it.

[msomnipotent]

3Com had a paid sabbatical program, but I couldn't convince my husband to ever take one. Sigh.

[HundredK]

My husband's job in the tech world has paid sabbatical every five years (he's been there long enough to get 3 of them so far). They also don't have vacation days per se - they just take time off when they want and make sure their job is done (which works out great for the company too as they don't have to show any vacation liability on their balance sheet).

I think the job hopping phenomenon is more of a millennial thing. There isn't quite the same belief that you have to put in the time to reap the rewards, so I think job hopping becomes the way of gaining promotions more quickly. Instant gratification is very important nowadays.

As for pensions - those don't exist much anymore in the private sector because they're expensive and unsustainable for a company that is trying to be aggressively profitable and has shareholders to answer to.

[StormRichards]

We get 6 weeks paid vacation every year, at full pay ... not including holidays - so this is not as lucrative.

We are encouraged to take at least 5 weeks out in a row every summer.

A sabbatical is different than paid vacation