Sabbaticals can help with talent attraction and retention, experts say
BNN Bloomberg
Sally Phuong took a four-week sabbatical from her job as an account executive at Sun Life Financial last year so she could participate in a professional floral design program at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in Toronto
TORONTO -- Sally Phuong took a four-week sabbatical from her job as an account executive at Sun Life Financial last year so she could participate in a professional floral design program at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in Toronto.
Phuong, 37, plans to retire at 55 from Sun Life and open her own floral store. In the meantime, she's looking to hone her skills on evenings and weekends with a part-time job in the business.
"It worked out really nicely that I was able to take a break from work knowing that my job was there and that I could return to it refreshed and bring back any skill set that I learned," Phuong said.
As the pandemic continues, more employers are looking to beef up their benefits packages by adding sabbaticals into the mix.
A survey last July by recruiting firm Robert Half Canada found 38 per cent of Canadian HR managers indicated they plan to offer a leave of absence or sabbatical as a benefit in 2022. The result compared with a report in August 2020 that said 30 per cent of Canadian HR managers said they would offer this kind of benefit in 2021.
At the onset of the pandemic, many organizations restructured and laid off employees. The remaining staff were left with higher workloads, which has contributed to the widespread cases of burnout that we're seeing, said Mike Shekhtman, regional director of Robert Half Canada.
