Hi everyone. Has anyone here ever taken a sabbatical from the workplace? I have been afraid to take the leap but am finding myself considering it and was looking to see if anyone had perspectives. Like so many, the last few years have brought a lot of life and career challenges. I have funds to cover my expenses for 9 months or longer but I worry about finding something when I’m ready to return. Thoughts?

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Heads up …Recession and corp cut backs probably looming in next 12-16 mos.
Stocks down , profits down , supply side , war . The talent wars will cool off big time . Just consider as you plan.

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Could you ask to take a leave from you current job and they will hold the position for you? I’ve seen that happen more than once at my company - especially after Covid.

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I’ve seen a lot of people take career breaks and get back into the grind. Do it and have an open mind to settling into a role when you’re ready (your first role back may or may not be ideal) - but it’s a hot job market and I don’t see that changing anytime in the near future.

Seeing comments about the stock market etc., I’d say look at the labor market - it’s been the silver lining, and something that’s tightening in this post-pandemic world.

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Yes my job offers a 6 week sabbatical after 5 years (on top of our 5 weeks vacation). Obviously different from your 9 months, but it was an extended paid break that does more than just a standard vacation, and it was wonderful. Depending on your situation with your job, you might see if you could work out a similar arrangement. I’m sure some places would be willing to work with you vs lose a great person in this talent market.

Fyi article ….

Sentiment in Silicon Valley is the “most negative since the dot-com crash,” investor David Sacks tweeted. Layoff announcements are becoming more common than funding rounds, companies are scaling back growth plans, and even the LaCroix is starting to taste a little flat.

It’s a vibe shift. Venture funding nearly doubled to $669 billion from 2020 to 2021 as record-low interest rates and infinite optimism around the tech sector fueled a fundraising boom.

But now that the Fed is hiking interest rates and the economy slows down, private startups are facing the same challenges as their public market peers.

Dozens of fast-growing startups have announced layoffs in recent months, including Cameo, OnDeck, and Gopuff.
Tiger Global, the hedge fund with the most investments in private billion-dollar startups, is going through one of the worst stretches of any hedge fund in history, falling 44% so far this year and 15% in April alone.
Bottom line: With the record sums of money that flowed into Silicon Valley during the pandemic, tech startups were like a basketball player shooting on an eight-foot hoop. Now that investors are raising the bar on what they’ll fund, you’ll start to see the fundamentals-focused pros separate from the flashy-but-lacking-substance amateurs.

You are talking about poorly evaluated and overfunded tech startups, so yea of course that makes sense. And yes if the stock market is down, funding led startups will get cautious as they won’t have access to free capital as before. But, this is a more or less a “silicon valley and VC funded world” view and not a representation of the general labor economy.
- https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/desperately-seeking-workers-11651851566
- https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/job-ghosting-new-hires-employment-11651759368
- https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/job-openings-us-growth-labor-market-turnover-march-2022-11651529531

Anyway, this was not the point of this thread, but simply wanted to share that there will be opportunities for talented people who take a career break, especially in this market, so sabbaticals should be something we should encourage in our industry - other professional services sectors like consulting, marketing services already do!

I did this when I was at the SAE level (I know, I was brave). I volunteered full time and then did a bunch of traveling. If you can find a way to get a couple days per week worth of skills based volunteer work, that's an option to consider as it adds to your resume.

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