Thread by @finshots

Here's why Netflix gives its employees UNLIMITED holidays🧵

(1/n)

Back in 2004, Netflix came up with its ‘No Vacation’ Policy.

The premise was simple - it would no longer impose holidays on employees, nor would it force them to work when they’re in need of a vacation.

As long as the employees are getting stuff done, they’re free to vacay whenever they wish to.

In fact, CEO Reed Hastings says “We don’t track hours worked per day or week, why are we tracking vacations per year?”

Isn't that a pretty logical line of reasoning?

Instead of counting the hours worked, you just keep track of productivity (in terms of the targets achieved), and then whatever time is left can be a vacation, for all Netflix cares.

So contrary to its name, this policy gives employees a hell of a lot of flexibility in choosing when to take a vacation.

So much so that it’s effectively an ‘Unlimited Vacation’ policy.

But this doesn't mean that the company is discarding its ‘result-oriented work culture altogether.

In fact, there’s research that claims that employees fare better after returning from vacation.

Yet this policy isn't without its faults. This idea of an 'unlimited vacation' blurs the idea of the right amount of vacation.

Since the policy looks too generous to be true, employees are more likely to err on the side of caution.

They might take fewer offs than they ideally should because they don't want to make it look like they're abusing the system.

And here's the worst part - unlimited vacation means no more vacation payouts.

Since there's no set number of vacation days, the company ain't making no payout either. Well, there's no such thing as a perfect policy.

Let us know your thoughts.

Sources and further reading:

1) Netflix's Unlimited Vacation Policy Took Years to Get Right- Inc

2) Netflix offers employees unlimited holidays- Yahoo Finance

3) The radical unlimited vacation experiment- FT

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