Bumble, 2021

Why did Bumble give all its staff a week off?

The short answer

In June 2021, months after Bumble went public, founder Whitney Wolfe Herd gave its roughly 700 staff a paid, fully offline week off because the team was burnt out. A few support staff covered users and took their week later.

The situation

Months ago you became the youngest woman to take a US company public. Users have surged and your 700 staff have had the busiest year of their lives. You can see they're burnt out.

The options on the table

  • Pay everyone a bonus
  • Hire more people to spread the load
  • Close every office for a week and send everyone offline, on full payWhat they did
  • Push through to year end, then rest

What happened

Whitney Wolfe Herd gave the whole company a paid, fully offline week in June 2021. A few support staff stayed on to cover users and took their week later.

Sources: BBC, CNN via ABC7

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