'Well-being is priceless': Meesho announces 11-day break for its employees

Online shopping site Meesho has announced an 11-day "reset and recharge" break to its employees for the second year in a row. The break will start after the festive season, from October 22 to November 1. The company said that this industry-first initiative will allow "Meeshoites to completely unplug from work and prioritize their mental well-being after the busy festive sale period".

Meesho founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey in a tweet said that even astronauts need breaks and so do folks working on 'moonshot missions' at the company. "For the 2nd year in a row, Meeshoites will unplug for 11 days (Oct 22-Nov 1) to Reset & Recharge after the festive season. Work is important, well-being is priceless," he said.

Commenting on Aatrey's post, Meesho in a tweet said: "An annual break bang in the middle of the festive season. That's how we roll." 

The company said that the 11-day leave is a reflection of its continued commitment towards building a “people-centric workplace, one that truly looks after its employees — our greatest asset". At a time when burnout and anxiety have emerged as key concerns for today’s workforce, it said, 'reset and recharge' will show the way for other companies to adopt similar employee-first practices.

Meesho's chief human resources officer Ashish Kumar Singh said building a great company culture requires one to acknowledge that work-life balance, rest, and rejuvenation are key to employee well-being. "With Reset and Recharge, we continue to push the envelope and redefine conventional workplace norms," he said. 

Singh further said that employees can choose to decompress however they want – whether it’s spending time with near and dear ones, traveling or picking up a new hobby. "Such progressive policies have helped augment our employee centricity and industry-leading retention rates,” he added. 

Meesho has in fact announced quite a few such forward-looking policies in the past such as a boundary-less workplace model, infinite wellness leave, 30-week gender-neutral parental leave, and 30-day gender reassignment leave. Meesho was recently recognised by xto10x’s “Startups Employees Love” in the categories of ‘People Excellence’ and ‘Best for Women’, the company said.