I'll concede rudeness as it's perceptive and not intrinsic in this case; I apologize for the timbre of my approach.
My stance is more of one rooted in individualism and self-advocation, i.e. if you're dedicated to a job that's considered a full time commitment, that's the social construct. We're not in a society post-labor, idealistic techtopia yet, and that transition if it occurs will be painful and bloated.
The reality is if you want the future of work when, how, where you want, then you have to recognize, admit and accept that your mental model of "employee/employer" relationship has to shift. You must not be the one exchanging what you are claiming to be your most precious asset - unburdened time - to the employer. There is no sense in continuing to enslave yourself to the constructs of yore. It is, ostensibly, within your control and power to become the master of your domain. Of course, this is going to look very catered to your particular requirements and value-adding skillsets.... do you have a set of diverse skills that can be leveraged into one-to-many income streams?
Why should the organization, that which agrees to give you quite a generous offer by any standard on a global measure, be responsible for ensuring the rest of your life is as you desire? You are the captain of the ship on this journey, only you are in control of the choices you make.
Truth is if your employer wanted to you be happy they would give you a full pension and send you on your way.
They want your labor, intelligence, work product, but it's all the same. They want your TIME.
Build businesses. Choose lifestyles that reduce dependency on extrinsic systemic operational uptime. Expose your raw value to the world as you decide and don't undermine your only static asset in life - time. It's incredible how variable the dollar-amount people set on their hours. . .
The employer/employee relationship is a business transaction: I pay them in labor, they pay me in cash. PTO is just me adjusting the amount of labor provided.
Imagine I walk into a spice stall and say: "I'd like to buy a pound of cinnamon, please." The seller might reply "Sure, that'll be $20 dollars". But I don't have $20. I have $10. So maybe I counter "Hmmm, best I can do is $10 dollars". The seller could then counter offer "I'll sell you half a pound for $10", and then we could both shake hands and walk off happy.
Replace cinnamon with labor, and that's a job negotiation. An employer, to satisfy me into selling my labor, has basically two levers: They can pay me more, or have me work less for the same pay. "Have me work less" is PTO.
Right, there is an intrinsic ceiling to how much an employer will decide to pay for that. My point is you can unlock that ceiling by choosing to pursue other business transactions, by increasing the value of your time. What employer would pay you $100k per month? Is that enough to be considered enough? You could do that with your own business but unlikely to get that from employer.
My current job, with 20 days PTO plus federal holidays is what I get per year.
If I get sick, it comes out of the 20 day pool. If I want a vacation, comes out of the 20 day pool.
At least, thankfully, I'm a remote worker, so I won't be infecting the whole office. But I still have 'come to work' sick this year. There are more than a few obnoxious cold bugs going around. And still, COVID.
And from what I understand, most European Union countries get unlimited sick leave, and 4-6 weeks of vacation both.
I also want to live and enjoy being with my SO, and doing fun stuff together. I do not live to work. I work because I have to because the threat of homelessness and destitution is the ever-present threat.
> And from what I understand, most European Union countries get unlimited sick leave, and 4-6 weeks of vacation both.
Just a side note, but in most countries sick leave requires a doctor-signed papers. Even for a day. Although sometimes companies give call-in-is-fine days as a perk. There're a lot of caveats around pay during that period. In most cases employer pays full salary for first week or so. Later it's on state and pay may be reduced. E.g. 80% of one's salary.
I also don't understand why is it such a mystery that people might want to pursue other interests than just work and that requires time off work.
Here in Europe, 20+10 is the bare minimum, with most people getting more and still striving for more.