Bolt CEO says unlimited PTO is a 'totally broken' policy — so he's killing it in favor of 4 mandatory paid weeks off

Business Insider

01-07-2025

"It sounds progressive, but it's totally broken." That's how Bolt's CEO described unlimited paid time off while saying he had just "killed" the policy at the company.
On Tuesday, CEO Ryan Breslow said that the San Francisco-based checkout and payments technology company would instead move to a PTO policy that offered four paid weeks off.
"When time off is undefined, the good ones don't take PTO. The bad ones take too much," the CEO wrote in a message shared to his LinkedIn profile. "This leads to A-performer burnout. B-performer luxuries. And feelings of unfairness across the board."
"So we're flipping the script: no more confusion. Every Bolter now gets 4 weeks of paid vacation (yes, the traditional corporate standard), with the opportunity to accrue more with tenure. Not optional," Breslow added. "We mandate everyone take all 4 weeks off."
Unlimited PTO is a perk that a growing number of companies have offered over the last decade. Various studies in recent years have examined how much paid time off employees at companies offering unlimited PTO take compared to companies with limited time-off policies.
"If we're asking people to move fast, build hard, and operate at the highest level, we need to protect their recovery time with the same intensity," Breslow said. "Execution requires clarity. That applies to PTO, too."
Bolt, founded in 2014, has raised $957.5 million as of January 2024, according to PitchBook data. In June, the company announced a partnership with Klarna, which will see Klarna's payment plans offered in Bolt's checkout devices.