• Working in tech sucks
    • Burnout (rate?)
    • Mental health
    • Toxic work environments
    • Constant need to upskill
    • Tech changes all the time (AI???)
  • Ideally
    • Quit and live in the woods
    • But is that really practical?
  • Instead
    • Take gap time off
    • Sabbaticals, leaves of absence
    • Different leave types
    • Guarantee of work
    • Adobe sabbatical/leave policy
    • General Mills sabbatical (every 7 years -- but it's not a rule)
    • Target (13 weeks -> 10 weeks -- personal LOA)
    • Calculate your runway
      • Monthly expenses * number of months you want = runway needed
      • Take-home pay per month - monthly expenses = savings
      • runway needed / savings per month = save for N months
    • Borrow from your future self, not recommended
    • Target's bonus covered our entire summer
    • Plus child tax credit
  • Resources
    • Adobe's handbook
    • HR isn't your friend, read your policies in your benefits portal
    • Savings rate calculator

Are you f****** tired?

Mini Retirements

Gap time off between jobs or taken as a leave of absence while working

Sabbatical

An unpaid leave of absence that guarantees you will be able to return to work

"Our bad, you can't work in France..."

Everything worked out.

Benefits

Bring new skills or knowledge back to the company

Reduce stress-related issues at work

Feel more satisfied with work

Lower turnover by coming back

For those outside the US...

Country Minimum Leave Total Leave
France 5 weeks 8 weeks
Denmark 5 weeks 8-9 weeks
Sweden 5 weeks 6-7 weeks
Ireland 4 weeks 5 weeks
Australia 4 weeks 5 weeks
Netherlands 4 weeks 5-6 weeks
US 0 (2 weeks avg.) 3-4 weeks avg.

😣

😍

Unpaid Personal LOA

An unprotected, unpaid leave of absence that you can request for any reason

Bringing Back Summers Off

10 weeks in Summer 2021

No, I didn't lose my job

I actually made more after that

Let's talk logistics

Check your benefits portal

Runway Needed (R)

Monthly Expenses (E) * Months Off (M)

M = Vacation Months (V) + Buffer Months (B)

Monthly Expenses 3 Month Runway 6 Month Runway 1-Year Runway
$3,000 $15,000 $24,000 $42,000
$5,000 $25,000 $40,000 $70,000
$8,000 $40,000 $64,000 $112,000
$11,000 $55,000 $88,000 $154,000

Assuming a buffer of 2 months

Savings Rate (\%) = \frac{Total Savings}{Total Income} \times 100
\text{Total Savings} = (\text{Savings Account} + \text{Investments} + \text{Debt Repayments}) - \text{Expenses}
\text{Total Income} = \text{Salary} + \text{Rental Income} + \text{Dividends} + \text{Side Hustles}

Offense: Increase Income

Defense: Decrease Expenses

Harder. Side hustles, freelancing, gigs, new job.

Easier. Unsubscribe, cut, downsize, minimize.

Savings Rate 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Weeks 120 60 40 30 24 20 17 15 13

How many weeks will it take to save for a summer off?

Sept-May ~= 40 weeks

Work normal year

Half the time

In reality, you likely need less.

Year-end bonus

Advance Child Tax Credits

Additional income and spouse's salary

Used some paid vacation upfront

Benefits???

Pay medical premiums out-of-pocket

No contributions to 401k or HSA

Had to reinstate some benefits

No vacation accrual

Now go recharge!

Developer lifestyle and personal finance tips at

kamranicus.com/newsletter

Growing a developer tool? Learn how I can help at kamranayub.com

kamranicus.com/money

Tired of Tech? (React Summit 2023)

By Kamran Ayub

Tired of Tech? (React Summit 2023)

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