Hack to get 46 days off with only 18 PTO days sparks heated debate
Kim Kardashian may have received backlash for suggesting that no one wants to work anymore. But thousands on Twitter and TikTok are proving her wrong: They’re working overtime…to secure as many days off as possible.
ONE viral tweet by user @Afashola_ shares a blueprint for, it claims, taking 46 days off in 2023. “Share widely,” the user wrote. The tweet, which was shared on October 24, has since amassed 35,000 retweets and nearly 193,000 likes.
The formula, broken down month by month, is not so much a life hack as a thorough approach to maximized chilling. January 2023: Take the Thursday and Friday before MLK Day off for a five-day vacation. April 2023: Take four days off until Good Friday for a 10-day break. July 2023: Take the Monday off before July 4 for four days off.
At the turn of the year, the plan, whose original creator remains unknown, gets underway. In November 2023, if you take five days off after Veteran’s Day, as well as the week of Thanksgiving, you will have 17 consecutive days off. Finally, in December 2023, just four days off between Christmas and New Year will give you a 10-day holiday.
“This is so clever,” TikTok user @Fandomfanboi said in a viral video, which included a screenshot of the tweet, which itself was a screenshot. “I just wanted to share it with you because I think we should all take more breaks and get paid for them.”
The video, which includes the hashtags #CorporateTikTok, #CorporateLife and #PaidLeaveForAll, has garnered 9.5 million views, nearly 487,000 likes and over 5,700 comments.
But commentators on both Twitter and TikTok have been quick to poke holes in the seemingly revolutionary plan.
“No one tells this mathematician that it’s exactly the same free time,” one TikTok commenter wrote. Numerous workers said their companies force them to work the day before and after a holiday if they request that day off, torpedoing the overview’s year-end plan.
“This was created by HR to get you to take off the least productive days in a year,” a Twitter said user. “Everyone knows that working the 4 days between Christmas and NYE means signing up to do nothing!!!”
“Easier said than done,” another Twitter user wrote. “When it comes to Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years, they’ll just put you on a waiting list, even if you ask for the time very early.”
Workers also pointed out that the plan has limited utility for people who work in hotels or health care, when the holiday season is often on deck. Some argued the opposite. “If you work in retail, sure,” one Twitter user wrote. “But most corporate jobs don’t have blackout periods.”
Despite the mixed reactions to the 46-day hack, discussions about vacation and paid time off have reached a fever pitch. As companies continually re-evaluate their benefits and employee support programs, concepts like “wellness weeks,” unlimited power take-off, and work-from-anywhere are suddenly on the table—and employees are coming to expect them.
“COVID has changed what is expected of employees by their employers,” Northwell Direct CEO Nick Stefanizzi said at Fortune’s Brainstorm health conference in May. “This has become particularly acute given the large resignation. And I think the employers you choose going forward are going to be the ones making the investments in the health, well-being and resilience of their workforce.”
Many on social media were quick to point out their dismay at the whole concept of game planning vacation a year in advance (“It’s crazy how we have to tweak days off…”). Others said the depressing amount of planning is overkill for those who just hate their jobs. As a tweet say it: “Just quit your job and you have 365 consecutive days.”
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