I wish more US firms would just do the European thing where the entire firm shuts down for a couple of weeks in the summer. Instead we do this thing where, in any given a week, a random third of your colleagues are out at any given time, and you're just kind of waiting on them.
It would also make vacations a lot more restive, in that you wouldn't be getting random notifications from colleagues who don't realize you're out, or come back in behind on everything and with an endless email backlog.
@mnolangray America: half-assing it just enough to ensure nothing works and no one is happy.
@mnolangray Thats we do in the European countries i have lived in too, never heard otherwise
@mnolangray If shutting down for a couple of weeks means that I have to take my vacation during those two weeks then I’ll pass. I’ll deal with random notifications if it means I can vacation when I choose to.
@mnolangray Doing this from Christmas to new years is a godsend. Nobody is doing productive work in that time period anyways
@mnolangray In a way I agree. Although Europe is going down the drains at the moment, the last 50 years showed they actually do more per hour than Americans... especially the French, ironically. Them the most of all.
@mnolangray I worked in Europe and basically it was more like "a random third of your colleagues are out at any given time" for the whole summer.
@mnolangray The puritan work ethic is what makes America great Nolan!
@mnolangray We should turn the two weeks between Juneteenth and the Fourth of July into the summer equivalent of the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Call it Freedom’s Fortnight or something.
@mnolangray We’re just severely less productive and equally stressed is all
@mnolangray Generally, I've seen manufacturing plants in the US do this twice a year.
@mnolangray The trick is to employ sufficient people to allow for annual leave but still have capacity to get the work done. We had that farce at Christmas, only so many people were allowed to be off but many of our customers were closed so nothing much got done anyway.
@mnolangray Companies should be able to function without you.
@mnolangray My favorite is pulling together slide decks for a meeting that's half attended - then we spend the next slide deck copying everything from the last one for those that missed the previous meeting, only for a whole new batch of missing people to be gone.
@mnolangray That’s a business problem… if you’re waiting on someone and can’t do anything, then if they quit, the business is screwed. And shutting down in the summer may not be as useful as shutting down in the winter, which a lot of US companies already do.
@mnolangray No, keep it the same now! It's nice when colleagues are out on PTO. Makes for some nice stress free work weeks in July and August.
@mnolangray Nah. The tourist industry doubles or triples vacation prices when they know a "bulk buy" is on the cards, like when they fleece families during school holiday time.
@mnolangray Seems to me like your USA colleagues would have to have 83 holidays per year for this to be true. But USA firms are notoriously stingy on holidays…
@mnolangray Agree! Businesses used to have 'summer hours' too, much better than making everyone change every clock in the house twice a year.
@mnolangray 1) way to zaggerate with the use of 1/3 2) if their absence seems random, y’all got an organizational organization parblum, not a vacation one, so 3) if you’re kind of waiting on vacationers, I’d check 2) above, that’s usually my problem.
@mnolangray And I never actually feel relaxed on vacation bc I know work is piling up & ppl are waiting on meeee. Usually also still expected to be responsive to emails & be on calls & shit. Yeah I hate it. Honestly miss the days of taking unpaid time off & silencing my phone for 2 weeks 😫
@mnolangray What if I don't want to take my vacation during those two weeks? What if those two weeks don't line up with the two weeks my spouse has off? What if they don't line up with the wedding I want to attend that is three states away?
@mnolangray If you’re just waiting on people you probably don’t have a full time job
@mnolangray there is a diner near me that does this to ensure that they don't have too few cooks. They shut down the whole place to let everyone have 2 weeks off during summer break.
@mnolangray @constans People should be able to vacation when they want, not when the company wants
@mnolangray Adobe does this for 1 week in summer and 1 week in winter and it’s a game changer. No better employer-provided benefit.
@mnolangray Yes and no. A couple of downsides. For customers: getting little to no support or even access to a business for all of August. And for employees: not everybody wants to take holiday at the same time of the year.
@mnolangray My entire company shuts down the first week of July and it’s fantastic. We’ve been doing it long enough that clients are used to it and I only come back to like 2 emails
@mnolangray can we do the European healthcare thing, too?
@mnolangray People take their vacation time at your firm?
@mnolangray The last week of June and the first week of July makes so much sense....but what do I know.
@mnolangray Thats why European productivity is in the toilet
