Banks and Vacation Time / PTO

Does anyone else wonder why banks act so weird about/discourage taking PTO that’s been given to us (explicitly in offer letters), especially at the analyst level? I don’t really understand why, as I feel like PTO is a very normal thing to take in the world, and with how many hours and under stress we work, you’d think taking PTO and getting a break every so often would make us more productive and make this job more sustainable/help retention in the long run and avoid burnout. Especially when it was given to us as part of the overall agreement when we joined

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It’s the exact same reason why it’s normal/expected to work Saturday/Sunday, or why they can make you work till 3am every day - because you’re getting paid a lot with the expectation that you will work all the time.

Also, there are people who are willing to not take time off during their analyst years, so it even further signals to management that they can continue to have these policies. And unlike consulting (where you finish 1 project and then can have down time in between where it is easy to take a vacation), it’s harder to just leave for a week when you are staffed on 10 things/multiple live deals.

I’m very lucky to be in a group that allows 2 full weeks off a year + semi-protected national holidays/down time over Christmas/New Years if your clients were chill. I have friends in other groups who less than 5 days off in 2 years.

Ultimately you will take your leftover vacation days at the end of your analyst stint before leaving, but who the fuck cares about the PAID part of PTO (it’s like 1 month of your base pay) - the TIME OFF is what really matters. Literally the only thing getting me through this year is knowing I will get a week to unplug.

 

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