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Slate Staffers Get "Fresca Fellowships" (aka Sabbaticals)
The New York Observer has reported that internet publisher Slate has told staffers that they will – one by one – take four to six weeks off (paid) and must come back with something to show for it.
Slate editor David Plotz told his writers that they are to exit the work-a-day rat race, take a [...]
Sabbaticals, Not Furloughs – Add KPMG International to the List
KPMG International is bracing for the economic downturn but working diligently to avoid job cuts. The big four accounting firm’s London office has offered 11,000 British workers the option of moving to a four-day workweek or taking a sabbatical with reduced pay.
Employees have two options: take one day off a week – at a 20 [...]
Fortune's "Best Companies To Work For": 19 Offer Sabbaticals
Fortune’s annual list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” is in February’s issue of the magazine, and 19 of the winners offer fully-paid sabbaticals, up from 16 in 2008. More offer unpaid sabbaticals, but Fortune doesn’t track that information.
Here are the companies with fully-paid sabbaticals, with their Fortune rank in parentheses:Edward Jones (2)
Boston [...]
Swearing Off Pink Slips in a Recession
Especially because salaries often represent a business’ biggest expense, cutting costs without cutting staff can prove challenging. Job-sharing, reduced hours and sabbaticals can all help keep employees on board during a long recession.
Midcareer Breaks Seen as "Sleeping Giant"
Yesterday’s New York Times had an article – “Those ‘Gap Years’ Aren’t Just for Students” – addressing the growth in sabbaticals both as a midcareer boost and a “more creative long-term way [for businesses] to weather the economic downturn than layoffs”.
Sabbaticals in Lieu of Layoffs
Time off instead of a layoff. Companies strapped for cash are looking for creative ways to cut costs. And some are offering sabbaticals. The idea is to take several weeks off with benefits, but little or no salary.
It’s something more companies are doing in an economic crunch. Workers spend the time recharging while [...]
The Self-Funded Sabbatical: Will You Pay for Time Away From Work?
Computer giant Cisco Systems in San Jose, California, experienced a surprising response when it created a sabbatical program six years ago. Employees who accepted a two-thirds pay cut were offered a chance to volunteer for a year in the non-profit sector. Cisco expected 20 to 25 employees to sign up. Instead, [...]
Short on Sabbatical Funds? Join The Compact and Flee Consumer Grid
One of the Today Show segments this month features a woman who is challenged with pursuing her desired career of singing because of the certain financial roadblocks we all face– money to put a roof over our heads, buy gas, or eat.
Along with working a second job to save for a sustainable existence [...]
Beer Sales are Up and Here's Where to Go for Happiness
True or False: Beer sales around the world added up to $50 billion last year. Answer: False. It’s actually double that amount.
Why is this important? It’s actually not. It’s slightly interesting, just like the answer to “Which age group is more likely to be surfing the ‘net right now?” Answer: There [...]
ArmyTimes Reports on Military Sabbaticals
Academic and church organizations have long embraced sabbaticals, and industry is quickly jumping on the bandwagon. And now, the U.S. military may offer sabbaticals, according to an article in the ArmyTimes.
Modeled after sabbaticals in the private sector, the six-year test program would be limited to 60 officers and 60 enlisted members, probably all Navy, who [...]
Apples to Kumquats: How a Sabbatical is so Not a Vacation
The Olympics have me in a China-like mood. Hence, here are some kumquats – mango-like texture fruits that look like miniature oranges- originating in China and so different from apples that a comparison is – well, not real smart.
Likewise, if you’re thinking a sabbatical is like a vacation – EEHHHHHH (Bad Buzzer Sound), you [...]
Sabbaticals are…uh…well, they're….SEXY
The latest issue of Marie Claire magazine lists 101 “sexy” trends, and we’re just so proud (blush) to see sabbaticals named the “sexiest status symbol”. See #94.
Hotel Equities: "It's the Biggest Training Platform We Have"
Although begun with the sole purpose of thanking and giving back to hard-working, loyal managers, the 11-year-old sabbatical
program at Hotel Equities has become a “big performance motivator” and talent developer.
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the hotel management and consulting company’s director of operations, Tamara Markham, to discuss Atlanta-based Hotel Equities’ sabbatical [...]
Appers Get Their Sabbaticals
It’s 5 o’clock and time to say “later, dudes” – as in four weeks later. Chris Cain, Director of Software Development, and Erik Forsberg, Hosting Support Manager, are saying buh-bye – just for a while – to their team members and their very cool company, AppRiver.
After putting in at least four years of hard work, [...]
ARCO's Sabbatical Bonus
Since 1992, a small construction company in St. Louis has offered its 250 employees even more than a sabbatical. After every five years of service, ARCO Construction Company’s employees get a 4-week paid break and a $3500 travel bonus.
During their sabbaticals, employees are not allowed to have any contact with the company (their BlackBerries are [...]
Let's Learn From the Brits, Shall We?
Yesterday’s Sunday Mirror, a UK newspaper, noted that more people than ever are taking sabbaticals, with nine in 10 “gap-year” (what the Brits call a sabbatical) travellers now over 30. The research was provided by American Express Insurance Services, a company that offers sabbaticals for its employees.
The sabbatical mindset is not foreign in the UK, [...]
If a Top Ten Sabbaticals List Existed, This One Would Be In It
I don’t want to go too far with “rating” what people choose to do on their sabbaticals….after all, the outcome is critical, too. Someone could spend the entire break at home and experience a bigger life impact than someone who climbs Everest or studies gorillas in Uganda.
That said, I’m holding up a card right now [...]
Company Sabbaticals in India
An Indian media outlet, The Financial Express, just published an article about a new study from Boston Consulting Group that finds that Indian companies will juggle between solving manpower shortage and offering work-life balance to its employees in the next five years. In the article, BCG was quoted as saying: “By 2015, 56% of [...]
General Mills’ Two-Pronged Approach to Sabbaticals
Instead of only one sabbatical program, why not two? General Mills offers its employees:
A personal sabbatical. After seven years of service, employees who have at least a “satisfactory” performance rating can apply to take an unpaid leave of 4-12 weeks to go and do whatever they need or desire to do. Individuals must apply at [...]
Small Business Owners and Sabbaticals
Cedric Blye commented recently about the challenges of small business owners taking sabbaticals. “How can a one-man-show/sole proprietor with a growing business that needs nurturing reap the benefits offered by a sabbatical?” he asked.
No doubt, while small business owners have more control over their time, they also have unique challenges with sabbaticals. In Escape 101: [...]
Tim Ferriss and his Mini Retirements
Not that I see Tim Ferriss’ ideas as pie in the sky. I don’t. I liked his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, a whole lot, and I know he’s inspired many, including me.
Blogger Get Rich Slowly recently interviewed Ferriss about his ideas for financing mini retirements, and U.S. News & World Report’s Katy Marquardt wrote about [...]
Small Firms Invest in Sabbaticals, Too
Many people assume that only Fortune 500 companies can invest in sabbatical programs for their employees, but that’s just not the case. Take Standing Partnership, a St. Louis-based public relations agency with 26 employees and about $3.5 million in revenue in 2007.
The firm began its sabbatical program 12 years ago, and “it’s one of the [...]
Please Hang Up and Try Again: Disconnecting In a Meaningful Way
It took the first half of Lisa Girouard’s sabbatical (see yesterday’s post) just to ramp down, she says. “It was about three to four weeks before I felt like I wasn’t just on vacation.”
Once she really disconnected, Lisa found that her thinking process got more creative. “Not doing email everyday was probably the biggest thing [...]
Europe and Real Estate: A Hybrid Sabbatical
A senior sales account manager with Intel, Lisa Girouard had her first sabbatical in June/July of 2007. Eight weeks’ paid.
For the first half of her time off, Lisa and her 11- and 14-year-olds traveled three weeks in London, Paris, and Italy, where the kids learned a lot about the kinds of food and arts that [...]