Indie game publisher tinyBuild has announced the introduction of a new holiday system for its two internal studios and publishing team, who will have unlimited paid time off from work until the end of 2022, as reported by Game Developer.
The Hello Neighbor publisher has stated that two weeks off per year is a mandatory minimum – taking place around Christmas and the Steam Summer Sale.
Beyond these weeks, the extra paid time off an employee takes is at the individual’s discretion.
Alex Nichiporchik, the company CEO, stated that findings will be shared after the experiment. He tweeted: “People shouldn’t worry about how many paid days off they have left in a year.”
Power to the people
Working environments have changed substantially since the outbreak of the pandemic, with changes continuing to come even now. This year, Bandai Namco have been testing a four-day working week to focus on employee wellbeing, and Hutch will begin its trial period shortly.
Commenting on tinyBuild employees’ unlimited holiday time, Nichiporchik said to Game Developer: “I believe companies shouldn’t have a cap on how many days you can take as holidays. If the work is done and your team leads and colleagues are happy, why should you worry about the amount of days off you have left? It creates a power struggle that isn’t necessary.
“So this year we’re running an experiment to see how we can implement unlimited days off into normal company operations. This will allow people in all locations to take national holidays off, as well as to extend our normal weeks off during winter and summer holidays. I believe in simplifying processes, so we shall see how this goes.”
Earlier this year, ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nichiporchik shared his personal and emotional thoughts at tinyBuild’s staff support plans.