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Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin (35) has just returned from a month’s vacation. She was the world’s youngest head of state when she took power of the world’s happiest nation. Prime Minister Marin has been at the forefront of coming up with important ideas for the future of work. Advocating for work-life balance and rejuvenation, she lives it. Sabbaticals are becoming an excellent and accepted way for professionals to find new ideas, recharge their batteries, and identify the next steps in their careers.
The word sabbatical originates from the Greek word “sabatikos”, known as the “sabbath day” or day of rest that occurs every 7 days of the week. This is also called a break from work. Working daily can exhaust an individual, and vacations are necessary to recover lost energy. In the dominant narrative, a sabbatical is a long-term break that a professional takes upon leaving their current position. Sabbaticals allow for introspection and create mental space to think beyond existing constraints. One might think about education or skills development, improving personal health, strengthening family bonds, or becoming an entrepreneur during a break.
Sabbatical leave is not taboo
Work is an inevitable part of life, but sometimes people get lost while running with the treasure to earn more and live a luxurious life. However, life is not limited to the daily rut. Life is about following your passion, being adventurous and exploring the unknown. Historically, managers have viewed career breaks as an excuse for candidates to escape their jobs, responsibilities, or simple incompetence. Continuous, repetitive work in the same field without change leads to exhaustion or even burnout. Burnouts harm productivity, cause stress and can ultimately lead to psychological problems.
New revelations and research about the human mind and body provide the answers. Research shows that taking a career break is good for reducing burnout, stress, and depression. Organizations have started encouraging short-term breaks to boost skill development and productivity. The emphasis is no longer on getting the job done but on working with personal care and consideration. In the era of the war for talent, organizations have begun to evaluate long-term ROI by allowing short breaks to employees who have proven loyalty and performance.
People from countries like India, UK, USA, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Portugal are great advocates of paid and unpaid sabbaticals in order to restore courage and zeal in the heart and the spirit of employees. A survey of more than 12,000 participants in more than eight countries shows79 percent of people favor taking a sabbatical once, and 49 percent do it to relieve work-related stress. According to reports, 81 percent of Italians, 76 percent in Portugal and Sweden, 75 percent in the United States and 62 percent in the United Kingdom would consider taking an annual sabbatical if the option were available. The most important reasons for the tendency to take frequent breaks are improving mental health, escaping work-related stress, traveling with one’s spouse and children, improving one’s physical health, or connecting with nature to cleanse and detoxify your mind and body.
A sabbatical is relevant for anyone who constantly works in the same type of job. But the result can be a change in the individual or a change in the path to follow. Award-winning actress Emma Watson said that she would be taking a year-long sabbatical to focus on her role as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and doing good in the world. Writer Hilary Mantel’s advice for overcoming writer’s block is to “Stay away from the office”. Steve Jobs took a break and went to India to meditate and focus on the things that mattered. Sabbaticals are useful to enable a career change, especially towards startups. For example, Sweden legally grants a sentence of six months leave it is up to each employee to create their business and make it profitable enough to meet their needs. Many employees often work part-time during their sabbatical to fund their business idea and keep their lives on track.
Sabbatical leave is a choice that has implications beyond the individual. You need a clear goal to leave your current job. It is necessary to discuss it as a family, plan the results and provide a financial cushion. A senior HR executive at Amazon says taking breaks is essential so you don’t want to burn out or deplete your productivity. She advises people to plan their sabbaticals a year in advance to reap benefits for the time they spend away from work.
Due to the uncertainty about the outcome of the sabbatical, individuals usually take care of their sabbatical. Arranging adequate financing for the vacation is an essential step in this journey. You have to plan expenses and save to take the plunge. Do not forget to take out additional insurance provided by your current employer.
As startups become more attractive and the drudgery of the work becomes more intense, large organizations have begun to recognize the trend toward sabbaticals among high performers. As a countermeasure, companies have started facilitating short-term breaks. Companies allow career breaks for employees with excellent track records in order to retain and promote personal growth. Such breaks boost productivity or give careers a new direction; for example, Charles Schwab offers 28 days of paid leave after an employee completes five years with the company, Intel offers eight weeks of leave after seven years of continuous service. It’s becoming clear that sabbaticals are becoming an integral part of a professional career with clear long-term benefits and trendy enough to qualify as “fashionable sabbatical”.
