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Everyone Take a Week Off: The Corporate Strategy Fighting Burnout
Though burnout is on the rise, taking time off to recharge doesn’t always work. Some businesses have a unique solution.
In recent years, companies like Bumble made headlines by giving their entire workforce a fully paid week off to recharge, recognising what founder Whitney Wolfe Herd described as “collective burnout.” While this example emerged during a period of intense workplace pressure, it helped spark a broader shift in how organisations think about rest.
Since then, the idea of company-wide shutdowns has gained traction. Businesses including LinkedIn and PwC have introduced coordinated time off to help employees disconnect properly - eliminating the pressure of emails piling up or decisions being made in their absence.
Many employees end up working double time before they go, or they have a nightmarish week playing catch up once they’re back.
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Why annual leave doesn't always work
Taking time off is notoriously hailed as a way to avoid burnout – which is now classed as an “occupational phenomenon” by the World Health Organisation. But the issue many workers have with annual leave is that is doesn’t always feel like a break. It can induce two types of stress.
The first is that many employees end up working double time before they go, or they have a nightmarish week playing catch up once they’re back. The second type of stress is the corporate version of FOMO (fear of missing out). Only, the fear isn’t missing out on fun, it’s missing out on important emails, immediate requests or accidentally becoming a bottleneck in a long, overdue project.
And while a rise in candid out-of-office replies go some way in setting boundaries, annual leave isn’t always clear-cut. Plus, virtual presenteeism can make us feel like we have to be available 24/7 – even in designated periods of downtime.
We’re always just a click away from being online
Our out-of-office stress can often lead to a ‘quick check’ of emails or an innocent reply, and in some cases, a leisurely half day. Because ultimately, when we go on annual leave, our company doesn’t. The wheels keep on turning. Unless everyone else stops working, it can be hard to switch off entirely – especially if we’re vacationing in our living rooms, metres away from our laptops.
In a world where taking a break can lead to more stress, how are employees ever meant to switch off, recharge, and avoid burnout?
Unless everyone else stops working, it can be hard to switch off entirely.
Global vacations days are on the rise
Well, it seems like company holidays are a safe bet. And Bumble isn’t the only business to run with the idea. Accounting firm PwC implemented global vacation days, as DeAnne Aussem, PwC’s Leadership Development and Wellbeing Leader explains: “The goal is to disconnect across the entire firm and recharge as a group.”
The art of collectively pressing pause for a week can actually be traced back to the Industrial Revolution. As explained in The Economist: “An assembly line does not function very well without a full complement of workers, so it makes sense for them to all take time off together.”
Logistically, however, there’s a handful of planning involved with business-wide breaks, and small emergency teams tend to man-the-fort in case anything does go wrong. But when there’s no business-as-usual to quickly check in on, time off can actually feel like time off, and wellbeing becomes a shared priority.
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