It's a pretty standard thing (US) to start with for entry level jobs. What the GP is claiming that is that policies that: "everyone starts here with 2 weeks, you get a 3rd week after N years, a 4th after M" are kind of bs for senior employees. They have a point; this rarely applies to senior management, for example - and effectively you are asking people to take a major quality-of-life hit when changing jobs.

This can lead to conversations like: "You've asked for N weeks vacation but policy is strict everyone starts here with 2 weeks". "I can probably live with that for an extra X k/year." ... "We can do N weeks".

I think in tech 2 week is becoming rare though. More likely either longer, or so-called "unlimited" (which itself is nonsense).

The more weird thing I find in US corporate culture is a tendency to not take the vacation you are allotted. In some countries this is legally at least problematic, in the US it's sometimes a badge of honor.

In a discussion of "it's so hard to attract employees", you probably should consider doing things that are better than "standard".

Standard for many companies? Probably. For tech? I don't think so. We start at 10 days the company picks (the typical ones) plus 19 days that "you pick"* and add 1 day per year of tenure for the first 5 years and that feels "competitive but not exceptional" for tech to me.

We also offer an additional 4 weeks (contiguous) once every 5 years, which is not standard for tech and is an enjoyable perq.

* - plus sick time which you aren’t paid out if you’re fortunate enough to not need to use, plus parental leave

My impression is that allowed vacation days has increased a lot in US tech companies over the past 10-15 years. Salaries and bonuses too.

Not in tech. We aren't anything special and we start with ~30 days holiday + vacation on day 1, up to 49 after a decade.

20 days is standard in the UK but most companies will give you 25. Some also give you the option to buy more.