Pinterest HQ.
Pinterest's HQ.
Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor via Getty
  • Pinterest and Yahoo gave staff a global day off on Friday.
  • They a join firms like Nike, Bumble, and LinkedIn in announcing plans to combat burnout.
  • Staff took to social media to celebrate the news.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Pinterest and Yahoo are the latest companies to give staff paid time off to unwind and alleviate symptoms of burnout.

Pinterest said in a post on its own Pinterest page that all of its global offices will be closed Friday.

Separately, Yahoo staffers in New Zealand and Australia posted on LinkedIn celebrating a day off for all staff. This follows the closing of private equity firm Apollo's acquisition of Yahoo and sister brand AOL from Verizon, and it isn't clear if the day off applies globally.

"Pintentions is Pinterest's self-care program, designed to help you hit the reset button and avoid burnout," Pinterest's post said. "The idea behind it is simple: take the time to do whatever it is that will make you feel recharged, whether that's resting, exercising, meditating, spending time with friends and family, or anything in between."

The company also shared a link to a Spotify playlist designed to help employees unwind, created by DJs and Pinterest employees Devin Askounis and B Dukes – and offered tips for how workers could "hit the reset button and avoid burnout".

Pinterest post
Pinterest announced the plans via a post on its message board.
Screen shot / Pinterest

Insider approached both Pinterest and Yahoo for further comment.

Pinterest is headquartered in San Francisco, and has 2,200 staff worldwide. It has offices in several US cities as well as London, Tokyo, Paris ,and Sau Paulo among others.

Yahoo has more than 10,000 workers worldwide.

They join other high-profile firms offering day- or weeklong shutdowns for workers to avoid burnout.

Nike closed its corporate offices for a week between August 23 and August 30 to help employees' "rest and recovery."

LinkedIn gave its 15,000 plus staff paid time off in April, while dating app Bumble gave 750 staff a fully paid week off in June.

After 1.5 years of lockdowns, working from home, and pandemic anxiety, many workers are reporting feeling stressed, overworked, and burned out. The paid time off may also be a retention mechanism, with millions of workers considering a career change as their priorities shift towards more leisure time, and time with family.

According to a global survey of 5,043 full time workers by McKinsey, 49% said that they were somewhat burned out, with the consultancy concluding that this is likely an underrepresentation of the true scale.

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