Is break from work the best year-end gift? Startups say yes

Ho, ho, ho! It is the season of cheer at India Inc.

As employees return to offices and companies start to follow a hybrid work model, several organisations are helping staffers recharge with additional time off through company-wide shutdowns and driving camaraderie through offsites and fun workplace activities, to end the year on an optimistic note.

Companies like InMobi, Wingify, NoBroker, Simplilearn, The Good Glamm Group, Khatabook, and others, are at the forefront of this initiative.


"After almost two years of working remotely, employees are excited about Christmas parties in the office and traditions like Secret Santa, just like old times," said Kartik Rao, group chief people officer at The Good Glamm Group, a beauty and personal care company that turned unicorn - privately held companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more - last year.

The startup is among those rolling out a company-wide week-long shutdown at the end of the year.

Khatabook, which helps small businesses keep digital records, is also activating a company-wide one-week shutdown from December 24-31. The break is intended to give employees an opportunity to unwind and return to work reinvigorated, said Ravish Naresh, co-founder and chief executive of the fintech firm.

InMobi, EnKash, Intuit, Wingify, and Augnito.ai are also giving employees additional time off for a year-end rejuvenation break, to enable them to spend time with loved ones.

Wingify offers "an organisation-wide annual week off in the last week of December to help everyone recharge and refocus".

Imbibing the Christmas Spirit
“In addition, we have planned celebrations and regional meet-ups for all Wingifighters to mark the year-end,” said Sparsh Gupta, the CEO of the builder of Software as a Service (SaaS) products. The Work From Home (WFH) culture induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, which restricted social interactions to a minimum, has made employees more restless and anxious, said Saurabh Deep Singla, chief human resource officer at edtech firm upGrad. Employees at the edtech firm are imbibing the Christmas spirit early by dressing up as Santa Claus and hosting games and interactive activities, Singla added.

SUN ’N SAND
The end of the year is also an opportunity for travel.

Senior management at business spend management platform EnKash travelled to Khopoli (in Raigad district of Maharashtra) on an offsite earlier this month to review the year, take a break from regular activities, and spend time together.

Top performers at upskilling edtech platform Simplilearn have also been taken to destinations like Dubai and Goa, apart from regular enterprise team year-end outings as well as Christmas celebrations.

Proptech unicorn NoBroker took its technology and product team to Coorg earlier this month, while another trip has been planned for the HR team later this month to the outskirts of Bengaluru.

It has also planned other offsites for the finance, administration, IT, business, and marketing teams, said co-founder Amit Agarwal.

At furniture and home decor company Pepperfry, this is the first Christmas where it will be a full house since the pandemic and employees are expected to participate in jam sessions and gaming activities.

“We also have an internal band called ‘Contraband’ that even sees our CEO Ambareesh Murthy as a lead guitarist playing rock,” a spokesperson for Pepperfry said.