The ‘adult gap year’: viable employee benefit or giant HR headache?
Maybe you were one of those college students who decided to take a gap year, putting your studies on the backburner to travel Europe or pursue some other dream. The concept has now gained traction in the work world, with the rise of the so-called “adult gap year.”
Unlike a traditional break in one’s studies, this one has working people taking a yearlong break from their jobs to pursue travel, passion projects or personal growth. In his bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek, author Tim Ferriss advocated for taking such “mini-retirements” throughout one’s career. Some companies even offer extended breaks with pay.
The phenomenon is particularly popular among Gen Z, a generation known to value experiences and personal development over a conventional career trajectory. It is even credited with driving demand for short-term rentals in markets like Rome, Barcelona and Sydney, according to real estate management platform Beyond.
“The growing trend of mini-retirements among young professionals is another indicator that today’s workforce is seeking more than just a traditional career path—they’re looking for meaningful experiences and the ability to integrate personal growth with professional development,” said Jamie Aitken, vp of HR transformation at management solutions platform Betterworks.
Aitken contends that for HR professionals, understanding and supporting the adult gap year is essential in retaining talent and ensuring organizational success. Still, adapting HR policies to accommodate such breaks most definitely has its challenges.
Workforce planning is one, as protracted absences stand to disrupt teams and projects, and potentially impact productivity, something Aitken believes can be remedied with a bit of strategic planning. She advises implementing flexible HR policies, upskilling opportunities and career pathing solutions to accommodate gap years, noting they serve to retain talent as well as bolster employee engagement and company loyalty.
More companies are allowing for such sabbaticals. More than half (53%) of managers in a recent survey by the Chartered Management Institute, a management training firm, said their companies allow for them, yielding benefits like improving employee wellbeing and mental health, cultivating a flexible work culture and boosting retention.
While he believes the gap year has its benefits, Rick Hammell, founder and CEO of HCM and payments platform Helios, advised companies to set parameters around it — for example, requiring that employees serve a minimum tenure before being eligible. “This approach not only ensures that only seasoned employees take extended time off, minimizing disruption to operations, but also reinforces the value of loyalty and dedication to the organization,” he said.
Eric Mochnacz, director of operations at HR consultancy Red Clover, thinks that while short breaks may reasonably be accommodated, a gap year—with the promise that a job will be waiting after the employee returns—may not be workable. “So much can change about a business over a year,” he noted, proposing that during the break layoffs could be necessitated, impacting the employee in question. Then, there are the complicated tax considerations.
At the end of the day, a lengthy break could get “mucky” for an employer, he reckoned, and possibly “more trouble than it’s worth.”