Burnout is real, as companies across America are finding out. The dating app Bumble recently gave its 700 employees a week off with pay to counter the problem of widespread burnout. Meanwhile no less a venerable wall street institution than Goldman Sachs just raised the base pay for junior bankers who had reported to their bosses in February that they were working insane hours, sometimes 100 hours a week, to keep up with unrealistic deadlines. (The current base is now $125,000 for analysts and $150,000 for associates.)
And it's not just the frenzied industries of tech and finance. Aquiline, which invests in financial services companies, gave its 60 employees a week off and canceled all formal meetings to counter pandemic-induced stress and anxiety. It plans to do so again this month. "Everyone switching off at the same time means people will be able to relax fully, knowing that developments at the office will not interrupt their vacation," said Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Greenberg who founded the company in 2005. If employee burnout is so damaging to the bottom line, imagine what it's doing to our health?