Wow, that way way, better than what we get by law in my EU country when you're laid off (just unemployment benefits). Looks like big tech in the US has loads of perks.
I am a EU citizen having lived in the US for almost a decade and I still can't overcome the stress of losing my job because of this.
Though, it's not exactly a vacation, as you're expected to prove to the unemployment office you are actively looking for a job and interviewing and you're not allowed to leave the country during that period. I mean you can leave the country, nobody will stop you, but you'll not receive unemployment or healthcare coverage for the period you're out of the country.
You can make it a vacation if you're system savvy enough and know how to game the system and aren't risk averse.
Average US worker << Average EU worker < US Big Tech Worker
Statistically, the average US workers has a much higher purchasing power than the average EU worker.
Unless by average you meant poor people or workers on minimum wage in which case you'd be correct, but that's in no way average anymore.
EU workers have much better vacation, healthcare, parental leave, severance pay, etc than US workers on average.
Wow. Most places are not like that. Get out of there.
lol. No. Your team will do just fine if you dropped dead today. Trust m. Teams are always fine.
Take the time off and get down off the cross.
We don't say it out loud because it's not polite but everyone is replaceable. In fact, there's many things we don't say because we are polite but I sort of feel like people tend to mistake politeness for support. But that's another thing all together and I digress.
Fundamentally, they chose this approach because those who receive the benefits will have to sign NDAs and because they don't want their reputation as an employer to be poisoned.