Sabbaticals: A look at the latest workplace trend — and why we all need a break

Are you burned out and drained at your job? Some workplaces are responding and even recruiting new employees with extended breaks. The Sum dives into the trend of sabbaticals.

TO SUM IT UP

• Many of us are stressed, anxious and burnt out at work. That’s not just a problem for us — it’s an issue for employers.

• The pandemic helped spur a mass exodus of workers in the “Great Resignation.” But it’s also part of a linear trend. As a result, many companies are upping their benefits.

• Enter sabbaticals: extended time off from your day job so you can catch a break and recover.

THE BACKGROUND

• Traditionally, sabbaticals last a year and are taken after 7 years of work. Sabbaticals are more common in the academic world, where professors will take on heavy research workloads.

• In one survey, almost half of Gen Z workers said they feel burned out because of work demands. More than a third said they’d leave their current role without another lined up.

• The top reason for staying at their current employer: a good work/life balance.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

• The Sabbatical Project looked at a group of 50 people who took extended time off and found most of them had “functional workaholism.”

• A 2019 survey from the Society for Human Resource Management found 16% of companies offered sabbaticals, up from 4% in 2011. But more high-profile companies are trying them out.

• Nearly 600 Adobe employees took sabbaticals over three months last year.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Research shows that people who have taken sabbaticals returned to work less stressed out and with a better overall well-being.

• That allows workers to come back to work with new ideas to innovate in the workplace. But there is a risk: Employees may take those new ideas to a new organization.

• Sabbaticals also provide a stress test for employers (one person taking time off shouldn’t send the company unraveling) and new opportunities for younger employees.

SOURCES

• Deloitte: Striving for balance, advocating for change (Gen Z & Millenial survey)
• Harvard Business Review: Research Shows That Organizations Benefit When Employees Take Sabbaticals
• Harvard Business Review: The Great Resignation Didn’t Start with the Pandemic
• The Wall Street Journal: The Sabbatical, a Power Move for the Burnout Era
• The Sabbatical Project: Our Research
• Fast Company: The Great Resignation has morphed into the Great Sabbatical
• CNBC: Here’s how to take a sabbatical, even if your company doesn’t offer one

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The Sum breaks down complex economic issues and how they impact your life in just a few minutes a day. Follow thesum.news on Instagram for the full story.

The Sum

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The Sum breaks down complex economic issues and how they impact your life in just a few minutes a day. Follow @thesum.news on Instagram for the full story.