What could be better than a job that offers a $150,000+ salary, perks such as free massages and state-of-the-art facilities? A job that offers all of that, plus a paid vacation before the first day.
The tech startup 42Floors, a San Francisco-based commercial real estate search engine, is giving its newly hired employees two weeks of paid vacation before their first day of work, according to a Slate article published Tuesday. Dubbed a “pre-cation,” this program is intended to ensure that new hires, often coming off the heels of a stressful job at another tech startup, begin their jobs energized and rejuvenated.
“The day they get their offer letter, it’s kind of like Christmas morning, in that they have a new job and they’ve already thought through the vacation they’re about to go on,” 42Floors CEO Jason Freedman told Slate. “We have a guy who’s about to start next week, and he’s in Thailand right now. It’s like, ‘Yeah, have a great time! And when you get back here, work your ass off.'”
This may sound like a pretty sweet deal. Before even starting work, new hires can already feel their employer cares about their well-being. Plus, they are getting paid to take a break before they have even done anything. The employee feels valued and ready to start working in one of the most high-pressure industries in the country.
But who is really benefitting from pre-cations? Sure, the new hire gets a break, but when he or she returns from their spontaneous vacations, the pressure is on to, as Freedman charmingly phrased it, “work your ass off.” And when that employee, after working his or her rear off for months at a time, inevitably burns out and wants a break, they’ve already used up their vacation time.
The technology-oriented culture of Silicon Valley enforces a mindset that these innovative, young employees must dedicate their lives to their jobs. True, there are numerous perks to working at these California tech companies, such as free massages, wine-tasting classes and the virtual Disneyland-like atmosphere of the Facebook headquarters, in addition to sky-high salaries. But the employees are also expected to log in 70+ hour weeks, virtually marrying themselves to their work.
Furthermore, how many people are able to take two weeks of their lives to take a dream vacation? This system may work well for young people, who aren’t yet overwhelmed with responsibilities, but what about employees with children? Surely it would be difficult for them to take two weeks off for a “vacation” they probably wouldn’t even be able to go on, due to other responsibilities. And when they want to take the odd couple days off to spend time with their children, their vacation days would already have been spent. Tech startups in Silicon Valley have been accused of discriminating against older workers, who are perceived to be living technological dinosaurs, and this program only perpetuates the predominant youth culture.
Silicon Valley is renowned for being the tech mecca of the world, but our very own city, Boston, is looking to build a start-up center of its own. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced Friday the creation of a “Neighborhood Innovation District Committee,” a program developed to attract tech startups to Boston.
“As we seek to foster and support economic development in Boston, it is essential for us to establish an environment that supports entrepreneurship and job creation throughout all corners of our city,” Walsh said in a press release Friday. “Innovation knows no boundaries, and our policies, infrastructure and programs should reflect that, from West Roxbury and Hyde Park to East Boston and Charlestown.”
Statistics show Boston isn’t doing such a bad job in the tech industry either. Although it falls behind the obvious San Jose and San Francisco, Forbes ranked the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area the number three city “winning the battle for tech information jobs” in May, and Walsh has made no secret of his intention to push Boston to the forefront of the industry. But can Boston really become like these California tech hubs? And more importantly, do we want it to?
The Silicon Valley world is notably unfriendly to people with families, people over the age of 40 and people who wish to get a good night’s sleep. The area was virtually developed out of the needs of this booming tech industry, and the city’s modern culture complements those needs accordingly. But Boston is a historic city with an artistic and intellectual culture hundreds of years in the making.
Still, Boston’s tech industry is markedly different from those in California in that much of the innovation is focused on improving the city’s infrastructure. Tech companies in Boston are developing pop-up bus services and bike-sharing systems that will ultimately improve the city, while many tech companies in San Francisco focus on more self-centered functions, such as Washboard, a startup that mails customers quarters to use at the Laundromat.
With innovators in Boston striving to help the greater good rather than the average lazy young adult, maybe Boston is safe from the California tech culture after all.
