Most managers don't have the luxury of being Gabe Newell from Valve. They'll just fire you as soon as you sound like your numbers are going down with some cause. Even if in the long run it'll be better, most managers only work at companies for 4 years, under VPs who only work their 6 or 7 years. The long term health of the team isn't a priority for anyone.
I tried to quit 2 months ago due to burnout. My manager told me to rather go on extended sick leave, and contact him in 6 months if I felt like coming back.
I just quit last month for burnout reasons. I’ve had my foot on the gas for…19 years.
My management really wanted me to do the sick leave thing. My therapist would have backed me up if I needed proof.
I chose not to take that offer because I didn’t want a timetable looming, and I wanted to be truly free from any pressure to return. The role was also very customer facing, which put me in a weird spot about what to tell the community.
I think I might have been more open to it if I hadn’t already been there for 8+ years and feeling the itch to do something new.
The door is still open, but I don’t have to walk through it.
I sometimes have to take a minute to reflect on how good we have it in this industry.
Make sure to really take your time, assuming you can afford it. It took me 3 years to get back on my feet after a major case of burn-out and I was done with the business world for a long time after that.
It's helpful to hear anecdotes like this. My minimum time will be 6 months, but I have entertained up to a year depending on how these 6 months go. Thankfully I've saved enough to cover even more time if I really need it.
I hear you on the business burnout. That's the part I could see taking...a good while for myself.
I'm sure it would be but I've never heard of that happening.
I once went to my manager saying I was worried about burning out bc of pushing so hard on a project with a legal deadline. Asked him to consider/look into options for me to take a month off unpaid at the end of it.
He said he'd talk to leadership about it and get back to me. I got fired the next day.
This is where I would have lawyered up. I don't know where this happened to you, but over in Europe I'm pretty sure this is illegal and I'd be gunning for some sweet, sweet money.
Unless they're in a legally protected class or live in Montana, his or her employer can fire them for whatever reason they want (and the employee can leave for whatever reason they want as well).
