Unlimited PTO at Storyblocks: Memories from our Summer Holidays
As the talent acquisition business partner for engineering at Storyblocks, I spend a lot of time speaking with candidates. During the phone screen process, it is customary to talk about company benefits. Of all the benefits, I am most excited to share our company’s work-life balance. In addition to unlimited PTO, we are closed the week of July 4th and the week between Christmas and New Year’s. We are also closed on some final Fridays during months without any national holidays, such as March and April. The concept of unlimited PTO (offering employees paid time off with no cap) is a great way to attract and retain top talent. Nevertheless, some candidates ask, do people really use it? I get it. Having unlimited PTO can be akin to having no PTO if employees don’t use it. So, do Storyblocks employees really take time off? You bet. Here is a glimpse of how some of us spent our summer break.
Katy Williamson, Lead Software Engineer II
SB’s summer break has become an essential part of my lifestyle. Every summer since I was a baby, my family vacation has been a week or two at Lake Bonaparte, a glacier-carved lake in the Adirondack region of New York, where my dad’s extended family is centered. It’s super important family time, and a chance to unwind, unplug, and reset (we don’t have internet or TV in our cabin there!). Forgetting what day of the week it is — absolutely priceless. And knowing ahead of time that I’m getting that time off, no questions asked, and not putting my team in a tough spot, makes it so much easier to plan and enjoy.
Ben Oconis, Principal QA Analyst
Every year my family travels to Virginia Beach to spend a week at a campground where we relax with our extended family, getting our beach time in and enjoying good food, good company, and whatever adventures the area throws our way. This year we did some fishing and got a crazy sunburn. This was also the first year my youngest son who just turned two in April saw and went into the ocean. He is totally a water baby and absolutely loved it!
Hark Verbicar, Lead Software Engineer
Over the summer break, our entire family (including our au pair) did a double trip to New England and Tampa, FL. This was our first major vacation since the pandemic started. Our au pair had never left Oaxaca, Mexico prior to coming to the USA, so we wanted to expose her to the opposite sides of the country. In Boston, we explored many of the historical sites, including the Freedom Trail. But the major highlight for me as an ice cream aficionado was when my husband surprised us with a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont! While in Florida, we also gave our au pair the opportunity of a lifetime: experiencing Orlando for the very first time!
Julien Capron, Director of Growth
Originally from France, I try to go back home at least once a year. This year, I took advantage of our company-wide summer break to visit my family for three weeks. We spent most of our days catching up, playing board games, visiting local attractions, and of course eating our daily dose of baguettes, cheese, and croissants. We took the opportunity to do a two-day trip to Paris and my daughter got to see the Eiffel Tower for the very first time, which was exciting! During our time there, we also spent a weekend in Brittany where we stayed by the seashore with a group of friends.
We are now back to work, fully reloaded and ready to tackle the rest of the year!
Jen Abowd, Software Engineer
We opted for a staycation in Washington, DC. If we were on vacation, we would eat out every meal, so for the staycation, we built up the tradition of dining out once a day. We went to the Wharf, a waterfront development, for dinner a few times and took the water taxi to dinner in Old Town, Alexandria. Not pictured: a visit to my favorite bakery to get half-priced cupcakes that were left over from the weekend. My husband is an aviation nerd, so we also visited NASA headquarters. They have a really cute gift store and library. The gift store is only open during the workday, so we have been waiting for months to go. We didn’t go far, but we had a fun, relaxing break.
Interested in joining a company that cares about work-life balance and provides great benefits? We’re hiring!
