Yeah, you are missing the point. Yes, tech are treated better than garbage workers but the question is about the specific concept of "unlimited" PTO.
The "unlimited" is a anti-benefit. Just like free dry-cleaning at the office. Besides the tax implications others have mentioned, there is the mental loss aversion. People who used to have 4 weeks of vacation that are use it or lose it would always take every single day.
Making it unlimited means that in practice, engineers take less than what they used to get because the portal doesn't list how many days they have left. At my current job, a co-worker was questioned heavily about why he needed to take more than 4 weeks vacation despite the fact we have "unlimited". (2 of the weeks he used were because he moved cross country so not an every year kind of event or abuse).
The "unlimited" is a anti-benefit. Just like free dry-cleaning at the office. Besides the tax implications others have mentioned, there is the mental loss aversion. People who used to have 4 weeks of vacation that are use it or lose it would always take every single day.
Making it unlimited means that in practice, engineers take less than what they used to get because the portal doesn't list how many days they have left. At my current job, a co-worker was questioned heavily about why he needed to take more than 4 weeks vacation despite the fact we have "unlimited". (2 of the weeks he used were because he moved cross country so not an every year kind of event or abuse).