One software company I worked had a benefit that, in your sixth year, you could take a paid sabbatical. IIRC, it was a month, which was still a nice break, but you probably aren't going to have time to write a novel.
I heard of people using that sabbatical to pick up consulting work. (This was before FAANG salaries, so even top engineers and managers might need the extra money, such as for kids' college, more than they need to travel or take up watercolor painting.)
Professor friends who've done sabbatical, it's much longer than a month, and seems to be a change of working scene. There's no teaching load from their university, but expectations that they'll be doing research/writing of some kind. They might do it while visiting a different university.
Regarding the class equity the article mentioned, a paid contiguous month off might be something a company could swing for all employees, as acknowledgement and incentive to stay 5+ years. A paid few or more months off would be a different matter to do.
I think the main difference is that a 1 month sabbatical is typically over-and-above your normal holiday allocation. This can make a huge difference for some people, particularly people with families.
With a normal "x weeks" of holiday those weeks quickly get committed. Vacations with your partner, childcare during school holidays, etc. Having an extra month above that can free up time for learning, pursuing hobbies, travel, etc. that is much more selfishly focused on your own interests, which can be massively invigorating - essentially exactly what a sabbatical is supposed to do, even if I agree that it would be nice to be even longer.
This reminds me of how German employers are legally required to offer at least a month (20 working days) of paid vacation a year, and many choose to give 25-30.
Some 20 to 30 mandatory vacation days (plus public holidays) is common across Europe. And indeed, employers often offer more than that. It's incomprehensible to me why the richest country in the world doesn't seem to care about quality of life for its citizens at all.
maybe to keep staying the richest? but seriously, I'm fine here for now, for programming Europe currently seems not very appealing. Would rather try to max out my options here, or downshift remote to a low-COL place. Europe seems neither here nor there (although awesome to visit)
A paid three month sabbatical after 5 years for somebody making $150k/year would be an extra $625/month. With the costs of other benefits, it's really not that much different and would be relatively straightforward to work into a benefits package.
Gosh, if only there were any way to prevent this. Like, and I'm just spitballing here, but what about: making your workplace somewhere they actually want to come back to!?
We've really internalized the idea the every job always has to completely suck ass, huh?
So? Even if they leave right after the sabbatical, you've successfully retained them for five years. That's an eternity in tech and definitely worth the expense.
For the contemporary tech industry reason of job-hopping being the best way to boost your salary, but a 3-month sabbatical is worth sticking around for?
I heard of people using that sabbatical to pick up consulting work. (This was before FAANG salaries, so even top engineers and managers might need the extra money, such as for kids' college, more than they need to travel or take up watercolor painting.)
Professor friends who've done sabbatical, it's much longer than a month, and seems to be a change of working scene. There's no teaching load from their university, but expectations that they'll be doing research/writing of some kind. They might do it while visiting a different university.
Regarding the class equity the article mentioned, a paid contiguous month off might be something a company could swing for all employees, as acknowledgement and incentive to stay 5+ years. A paid few or more months off would be a different matter to do.