Today’s beat said that we are to use 5 days in December/January and 5 days in July. This doesn’t seem to be a good thing.
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@1exv+1pUo4GkE, when I joined, the employee handbook said that, for salaried employees, it wasn't about the # of hours worked. We were expected to so the assigned work by the assigned due date and had to take PTO in full-day increments rather than taking time off for doctor's appointments, etc. You could work 24-32 hrs in a week as long as you got everything done, or were expected to work 48-56+ hours if needed and you were paid the same either way.
If you had the spare time to only work 24-32 hrs a week, your manager would notice and give you more work, but having a half-day here or a half-day there was never a big deal because you probably worked those hours on a week night or week-end.
Basically, PTO was used when you were too sick to work from home, or you wanted to travel out of town and be gone for more than a 3-day weekend. That made it easy to take 2-3 week vacations or for people to travel to India. One guy I worked with saved all his PTO for a while and took a month-long vacation to see the Olympics in China in '08.
Damn, the good 'ol days.
used to be you would work when you had to, sometimes 80 hour weeks ,sometimes 10 and you just banked max pto so that if you quit or got LR nice little mini bonus, but taking mandatory pto during a shutdown and suggested mandatory pto is not good sign, so everyone is hoarding PTO just in case.
It's not "vacation" if they tell you when to take it. It's a mandatory furlough that's unpaid unless you pay for it yourself.
“I've worked here for 22 years. Take 3-4 weeks PTO every year and not once have I actually submitted it“
Pretty ethical guy.
A lot of people especially the Indian ones take PTO and do not submit it. They would go back to India for a month every year and never submit any PTO. They can get away with it because their manager is also Indian doing the same thing.
I've worked here for 22 years. Take 3-4 weeks PTO every year and not once have I actually submitted it.
Do they still make developers with no customer contact and no formal on call duties be on call with a 15 minute response time during the forced "vacations?"
Looks like this comment woke up the old guys from their nap!
@cpu+1pUo4GkE, If you think that's crying about vacationing and that I should be fired for it, then I hate to see what your reaction would be to all the people who were asking during the pandemic if Cisco would increase "banked PTO limits" so they could accrue more PTO because they couldn't take "vacations" during the pandemic.
This should come as a surprise to nobody: Cisco is a sinking ship. The ELT has been desperately slapping paint over the rust and trying to patch big holes to literally and figuratively keep us afloat. It's not working. Senior leadership is told to keep quiet about just how bad things are... but some don't care anymore and they talk. Word gets around. "Loose lips sink ships." This has less to do with the economy, and more to do with terrible business decisions (especially in acquisitions, marketing, and investing in the people/tech who support it all.) Make your evacuation plans and be ready no matter what your role is. Wishing you all the best.
“OTOH, I don't like that it's during the 4th of July week because too many people vacation during those dates and hotels/vacation spots raise their prices that week. I'd just as soon use my vacation during the off-seasons when the weather is cooler and crowds are smaller“
Crying about vacationing…you should be fired for that comment.
@bcw+1pUo4GkE, those are very valid points, but apparently the employment laws don't let Cisco say that everyone with over 80 hrs of PTO accrued has to take a week's PTO. They have to make it mandatory for all, or they can't do it which really screws over those who are new hires and have no PTO saved up yet, or those that actually use their PTO.
The issue for me is that Cisco decided what the PTO policy is and set it at allowing employees to accrue 220 hrs of PTO--more if you've got 5, 10 or 15 yrs of service--at a time. Then they come along and punish everyone trying to force those who are in compliance w/ the policy to use more PTO.
I would suggest that Cisco change the policy if that's what they need to do to make their numbers look better, but then they'd lose a lot of talent and be unable to attract and/or hire talent with a sh---y PTO benefit. Why work at Cisco w/ 2-weeks PTO when other companies give 4 or more?
@sfu+1pUo4GkE, I agree w/ you in that I like taking PTO when others do because it doesn't cause problems scheduling meetings, etc. when people are all gone at different times.
OTOH, I don't like that it's during the 4th of July week because too many people vacation during those dates and hotels/vacation spots raise their prices that week. I'd just as soon use my vacation during the off-seasons when the weather is cooler and crowds are smaller.
I also thought they were saying something that people are taking PTO but not using it? Isn’t that stealing?
We have too many PTO days anyway. Don’t care.
Come on, really? Y'all think taking PTO is going to prevent layoffs? July is the end of the fiscal year and by drawing down PTO it improves the balance sheet because PTO is a financial liability for the company. It's a move to goose the numbers at the end of Q2 and the end of Q4 and will have zero effect on any future LR. None.
Two things.
- They people to go negative for this. That's fu---d up. Clearly you've used your PTO, which some people don't use.
- They don't care if you've already scheduled PTO for the last quarter. It's the summer and people vacation, why are they going to force 4 days if someone already has PTO scheduled for the summer.
I understand why we need to take it and the value in doing so, but putting people negative is messed up.
It’s pathetic to dictate to us so much of our PTO that we need for our families and other commitments. I’d expect that working at MCDonalds, not at Cisco.
This is to lessen the amount they have to pay you out when they lay you off in August and September. They think we are stupid.
For those saying you'd rather take PTO than do layoffs and it's no big deal aren't seeing the bigger picture. Cisco continues to mismanage it's headcount. Gang buster hiring, then layoffs, the cycle repeats itself constantly like a roller coaster for the last 12 years
No one has a problem with having to use PTO but it would be nice to hear the truth from the ELT for once. Just say in order to prevent an LR it will require your PTO. Problem solved. They live in lies that’s what I have a problem with…
6 days in Q2 and 4 in Q4
I'd MUCH prefer taking some PTO (especially when everyone else is) than layoffs, pay cuts or so on. No big deal.