If buildings can bend, like these in NYC, then bosses can too when it’s time to encourage employee BreakAways. 

Honestly, the flurry of sabbatical and career-break ink of late has been dizzying. At some point in history, we may look back at this workplace moment as not only one of the most challenging, but also innovative when it comes to employee empowerment.

Credit the pandemic—which for 2+ years has plundered work norms while somehow most of the economy kept afloat anyway. But that only began the reinvention; the Great Resignation somehow inspired millions of workers to quit their jobs and rethink work/life priorities entirely. And atop all that, younger people are less loyal. Older people are burning out. Offices suddenly seem more, oh, optional!

• Flex, yes, but I want my FREEDOM too!

CBS Chicago reported a few days ago about trends in workplaces—newsworthy indeed as companies scramble to put Humpty-Dumpty back together. Flex work makes most headlines, but what does that mean? 1 day at the office? 4? That drama plays out daily now in offices everywhere

Pet stipends are also making some people purr—when your employer picks up the tab (and someone else picks up the doo-doo) to take your dog to the park while you’re at the cube farm. Transportation reimbursement (usually for mass transit) is gaining steam, as is education assistance. And a 4-day work week—already common in some countries for pre-pandemic reasons—is getting serious consideration in the US and again worldwide.

• But the big score: The Sabbatical

CBS Chicago may not be the WSJ or The Economist in reach and influence. But when media everywhere are reporting on our BreakAway concept routinely, well, that’s Big News in itself. As a Northwestern professor put it, people want, “natural breaks, creative breaks.”

Funnily enough, that’s what this website has been preaching since 2008. Especially the “natural piece” (go somewhere! get outside! seek adventure!)…and the “creative” detail (recharge your ideas; use your hands; try something new).

If you’re going back to work-work, make it WORK for you. Now’s a good time to introduce the Powers that Be to the powers of offering employees worthwhile and feel-good perks. Atop the wish list are more vacation days, more unplugged times, and more SABBATICALS!

The Bosses at the top will love the improved morale, recruiting, and retention. And they’ll thank you. Later. Trust me!

Employers allegedly want neat, linear work histories. But most lives, especially those well-lived, more resemble a beautiful stack of abstract experiences.

Monster-networking SM site LinkedIn shocked the world on March 1 by suddenly—and finally—including career breaks as a viable way to describe the times that you were doing other things than working for MSFT (who owns LinkedIn). While most people would question the actual significance of LI, this is still both shocking and outstanding news.

LI even offers 13 options to describe your BreakAway, such as travel (yes!), bereavement, and caregiving. We’ll see if they add more over time, like joining the Great Resignation. Meanwhile, LI reports that “51% of hirers say they are more likely to contact a candidate that provides context about their career break.”

This development feels about, oh, 55 years late. But we rejoice in small victories—and this may represent a paradigm shift of sorts. So go ahead, be honest and update your profiles, y’all. BreakAway has always insisted that any employer worth working for will embrace people with interesting and well-rounded lives. Maybe the Linky world is catching up…

France gifted the USA with the larger-than-life Lady of Liberty in 1886. 

Gas prices are going up. They’re about to go way up. Why? Well, there are many reasons. But the latest ir-rationale is that Russia, who controls a lot of the world’s energy, is attacking the Ukraine. So an unusually united NATO and other nations have, for now, announced that they will stop playing nice with Russia. 

Hello, inflation! 

Unfortunately, this will make travel more expensive. And in some cases, less inviting. Worse, the sniping and blaming will become even more deafening than usual. In the U.S., of course, but almost everywhere. And global peace will take a big step backwards. World War #? is not out of the question. People will suffer and die.

I’ve known Ukrainian friends and families. Lovely people. Aren’t all people? We like to think so, but at times like this, one must doubt that hypothesis. Fasten your seat belts. And keep ready your mini-BreakAways from the news, from the noise, from the nastiness. Above all…

Keep the faith.

• A picture dances 1,000 words…so take pics, take breaks, and take nothing for granted.

This picture features my 2 perfect children. On New Year’s Eve, 2017, playing at sundown on a pristine beach on St. John, USVI. The theme here might be, “If you’d have told me…” The punchline is always the same: Do it now…or at least ASAP.

• If you’d have told me…they fly away

One was back from college out east, so I had seen that disappearance already. But the other was still at home, 6 years younger, and still (relatively) carefree and un-adult. Now she, too, is far away at college. So vacation scenes like that don’t much happen. Obstacles grow like seaweed over time.

• If you’d have told me…cancer

Oh yeah. On this date, I had just finished several months of several kinds of tumor treatments. So the notion that I somehow managed a getaway during this period seems impossible. And indeed, the worst effects (long illness) politely waited until after returning home. Proving: I’m so glad we went. Even though I was scared to near-death.

• If you’d have told me…family dissolved

Few things last forever. Including marriage. And when they conclude, that’s usually for the best. Still, that makes doing wild and crazy things (like ditching everything for island Breakaways over holidays…while you still can) more brilliant. Cuz you likely won’t do it when the family is no more. Yet, with any luck, good memories live forever. Trust the pics.

• If you’d have told me…pandemic

With all the life ch-ch-ch-changes, epic breaks to escape winter become harder than ever. Then enters the trump (no not him) card: Covid. Oh sure, some people still travel. But at their own risk, and with much more effort and hassle. Aren’t you glad you went that place when it was relatively easy? I am.

• If you’d have told me…passion still matters

Most likely, we’ve all simplified our goals and dreams over the past few years. And that’s….OK. Reality Resets happen throughout life. Sometimes from exterior forces (pandemic), sometimes from inside your own house. But please, keep the passion. Somewhere in your heart, your photo collection, and your hopes for better days ahead.

And when you…finally…arrive at that happy place again, take lots of pics!