A question for the community: What has been a good use of a sabbatical?
From the New York Times today:
Now, many younger workers are opting not to wait until retirement, and are leaving an extended gap between jobs to invest in other parts of their life. But not everyone wants to call it a sabbatical: Some people prefer the term “mini-retirement” or “micro-retirement.”
“Sabbaticals are seen as the thing that an organization offers to you for paid time off, and then you come back to that job,” said Kira Schabram, an assistant professor at the University of Washington who is researching such breaks. “People are just taking it into their own hands.”
- To Escape the Grind, Young People Turn to ‘Mini-Retirements’ <https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/young-people-work-mini-retirement.html>
Career break?
ReplyDeleteI would disagree with Professor Schabram that sabbaticals are "paid time off," at least in an academic context. They are normally awarded by a committee based on a research proposal to be completed in lieu of normal teaching and service obligations.
ReplyDeleteThey are not at all like unemployment or retirement, in the sense that you are still very much employed and actively working. The emphasis of the job just changes.
Examination!
ReplyDeleteFor a dramatic change of scenery and challenges some take to the sea through Offshore Sailing Opportunities, https://www.sailopo.com/h1.aspx. My brother sailed on several passages across the Atlantic and Pacific during his sabbatical. His career was to promote his company's pension fund services so he stopped at an assortment of island nations to renew and make contacts (Caribbean, Bermuda, Iceland, Azores, French Polynesia, NZ, AUS)
ReplyDeleteSon is old enough that some of his college friends and former consulting colleagues have taken sabbaticals. It makes sense in that young consultants work absurdly hard and often spend four days a week, months at a time, on-site with clients. It's not something one sees as often for investment banking. Many of his friends are avid global travelers, so it often involves landing in a foreign city for 6-12 months, some excursions from there, but also doing something else - lower stress jobs, volunteering time to something they care about, that sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteI took a bit of a "working" sabbatical to teach ESL in SE Asia. It was hands down the most incredible few years of my life. Full of challenges, cultural learnings, and opened my eyes to the world outside of New England. Though the jungles of Asia don't allow one much chance to wear sweaters, sadly.
ReplyDelete