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Apple used to have a sabbatical; at five years, you got six paid weeks off. Well, it's not 50K, on the other hand it was surprising how many people hung on unt

by kabdib 15y ago

Apple used to have a sabbatical; at five years, you got six paid weeks off. Well, it's not 50K, on the other hand it was surprising how many people hung on until five years, took their six weeks off (often including vacation), then quit. It seemed to get rid of dead wood. I'm still not sure why.

donaldc 15y ago
It seemed to get rid of dead wood. I'm still not sure why. My guess would be that, those people who were no longer growing at Apple, after six consecutive weeks off, filling their mind with things other than working at Apple, realized they had stagnated and figured out something else to do. It's much easier to have perspective on a situation after spending a significant period of time away from it.
checker 15y ago
I think many people find it difficult to contribute significantly after they've lost enthusiasm for their work, becoming dead wood. Staying five years might be stretching it for them.
mikeryan 15y ago
5 years at once place in SV is pretty long. If you're getting itchy feet at 4 years you're probably going to wait the few months until the sabbatical kicks in so you can get the time off (or payout?).
kirpekar 15y ago
IBM and many HDD companies still have the sabbatical rule. 7 years of work-ex gives you 3 months of time off (but it has to be planned and approved well in advance)
ChuckMcM 15y ago
Sabatticals are an interesting thing. SGI, Tandem, Sun, Google for a while, all had sabbaticals after a period of time. HR people note that people often don't come back from them. I think that is in part because you do get to refresh a bit and think about things and ask really deep questions like "what do I really want to be doing with my time?" A lot of things change in 5 years. However, the idea of letting people take an extended break to recharge is a good one, if someone comes up with a good way to do that without losing employees it would be well received.
ticks 15y ago
Six weeks doesn't sound that much TBH, many countries require at least five weeks paid holiday per year.

by kabdib 15y ago

donaldc 15y ago

It seemed to get rid of dead wood. I'm still not sure why. My guess would be that, those people who were no longer growing at Apple, after six consecutive weeks off, filling their mind with things other than working at Apple, realized they had stagnated and figured out something else to do. It's much easier to have perspective on a situation after spending a significant period of time away from it.

checker 15y ago

I think many people find it difficult to contribute significantly after they've lost enthusiasm for their work, becoming dead wood. Staying five years might be stretching it for them.

mikeryan 15y ago

5 years at once place in SV is pretty long. If you're getting itchy feet at 4 years you're probably going to wait the few months until the sabbatical kicks in so you can get the time off (or payout?).

kirpekar 15y ago

IBM and many HDD companies still have the sabbatical rule. 7 years of work-ex gives you 3 months of time off (but it has to be planned and approved well in advance)

ChuckMcM 15y ago

Sabatticals are an interesting thing. SGI, Tandem, Sun, Google for a while, all had sabbaticals after a period of time. HR people note that people often don't come back from them. I think that is in part because you do get to refresh a bit and think about things and ask really deep questions like "what do I really want to be doing with my time?" A lot of things change in 5 years. However, the idea of letting people take an extended break to recharge is a good one, if someone comes up with a good way to do that without losing employees it would be well received.

ticks 15y ago

Six weeks doesn't sound that much TBH, many countries require at least five weeks paid holiday per year.