Reducing pandemic burnout

The idea of an extra week’s paid leave for everyone at LinkedIn is certain to be very popular with employees, and time-off is likely to be beneficial for reducing work-related burnout. However, unless LinkedIn has a plan to prevent work from building up during this shut-down, the beneficial effects of the leave may be short-lived if employees are expected to play “catch-up” upon their return to the office. Also, if this strategy is found to be effective at reducing pandemic-related burnout, will it set a precedent that employees can expect additional leave going forward if they can demonstrate they are suffering from “burnout” for other reasons?

I commend LinkedIn for acknowledging the need for their people to take some time to recuperate after a very difficult year. It may seem like a radical decision but these kind of forward-thinking behaviours demonstrate a respect for their workforce, and the need to think differently in these complicated times about how to keep organisations functioning effectively. It’s great to see businesses recognising the longer term benefit a human-centric approach can deliver through productivity, morale, staff well-being and ultimately an improving bottom line.