Nike gives staff week off to support their mental health

Nike gives staff week-long mental health break ahead of office return

Nike is giving its employees a paid week off to support their mental health ahead of a return to the office this September.

This week staff working at the corporation’s US headquarters in Oregon will not have to work until Friday to give them time for “rest and recovery”.

Nike’s head of insights Matt Marrazzo said the break was “an acknowledgment that we can prioritise mental health and still get work done”.

In a LinkedIn post Mr Marrazzo added: “Our senior leaders are all sending a clear message: Take the time to unwind, destress and spend time with your loved ones.

“Do not work. It's times like this that I'm so grateful to be a part of this team. In a year (or two) unlike any other, taking time for rest and recovery is key to performing well and staying sane.”

It follows similar moves from social media site LinkedIn.

Employees in the US receive just 10 days of paid annual leave on average.

Mr Marrazzo added: “This past year has been rough - we're all human and living through a traumatic event - but I'm hopeful that the empathy and grace we continue to show our teammates will have a positive impact on the culture of work moving forward.

“It's not just a ‘week off’ for the team. Support your people. It's good business but it's also the right thing to do.”

It follows a growing number of workers reporting feeling burnt out as the pandemic continues and many still work from home.

Other big US firms, such as Apple and Uber have delayed plans for staff to return to the office because of rising Covid cases in the US.

A senior executive revealed on Twitter that founder Whitney Wolfe Herd made the move "having correctly intuited our collective burnout."

Source: Evening Standard