Automattic

Automattic’s Sabbatical Benefit

Working at Automattic provides numerous opportunities to learn new skills, grow in your career, and have a significant and positive impact on the lives of millions. It also offers rare (and juicy!) benefits, including a paid, three-month sabbatical every five years. 

How does it work? That’s easy. Every five years, you’re encouraged to take three months off with full pay and benefits. What will you get out of it? Let’s ask some Automatticians:

A generous gift

Automattic’s sabbatical is a generous gift. It allows you to recharge and recalibrate in a way no two-week vacation ever could. On my first sabbatical, which came on the heels of the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I seized the chance to travel: I went to California and Utah, then to Japan, and finally to New Zealand, where I lived alone in a camper van for nearly a month. My two priorities were moving (hiking, walking, running, swimming, doing yoga) and reading fiction—I wanted to exercise my body and my mind as much as possible. Rather than tiring me out, the constant motion felt like revving an engine. The night before I returned to work, I told my husband I was sad my time off was ending. He said, “But you love your job.” And it’s true, I do! Ever since, I’ve been endeavoring to integrate sabbatical “vibes” into my day-to-day existence so that I can have the best of both worlds. It’s a work in progress, and one I’m eternally grateful for.

Seyward Darby, Editor-in-Chief, The Atavist Magazine; Automattician since 2018

Tossing the to-do List

After more than a decade at Automattic, I’ve grown a deep appreciation for our unique distributed company and its emphasis on personal autonomy and lifelong learning. I’ve evolved not just in a professional capacity as writer and editor, but as an ever-curious, adaptable, independent, and empathetic person who feels able to navigate a fast-changing world. My three-month sabbaticals have been extensions of Automattic’s curiosity-driven, choose-your-own-adventure environment—incredible gifts of time and space for introspection and to (re)discover what inspires me. This, in turn, has made me a better colleague, and a more present mother and partner. Interestingly, both of my sabbaticals did not go quite as expected and I did much less than I had planned, but that’s also the beauty of these months. During both, I realized the importance of not measuring success in traditional productivity terms and of tossing the to-do list in favor of slowing down and just being. Balancing work and life is a constant dance, and my sabbaticals have taught me a lot about myself and what I truly need.

Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Editor, Longreads; Automattician since 2012

Cheri has more to say about her sabbaticals on her blog. You might start with Embracing Idleness (Or, Notes from Sabbatical, Week 7), and follow Cheri’s sabbatical tag for more.

Want still more? These Automatticians have blogged thoughtfully about their varied sabbatical experiences:  Kathryn Presner, Steve Blythe, Steph Yiu, and Ryan Markel.

For still more on the transformative power of sabbaticals, spend some time reading Research: The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals by Kira Schabram, Matt Bloom, and DJ DiDonna in the Harvard Business Review.

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