The Benefit of Time: How P&G Employees Use Sabbaticals to Support Wellbeing

P&G’s sabbatical program is one example of the Company’s commitment to help employees ‘Be at their Best’ throughout their career journeys with benefits and resources to support physical, mental, financial and work life wellbeing.

With P&G’s unique sabbatical benefit, employees can take unpaid time away from work to recharge and pursue whatever inspires them, returning to work with renewed energy to contribute to the business. In the U.S., for example, employees can take up to three months off every five years, to focus on personal development, travel or any other activity that aligns with their aspirations.

Hear how three P&G employees have leveraged this benefit.

Making Space to Pause

Abi Estrada-Bey, Senior Director, Global Grooming IT Digital Supply Chain Leader admits she is not the kind of person who sits still. For almost 20 years, she has been implementing technology solutions across P&G. But one of Abi’s most impactful career moves was not a business breakthrough — instead, it was taking the time to pause.

In 2014, Abi and her husband shared parenting responsibilities for their two daughters, then ages five and nine, but family life felt hectic and hurried. “I just wanted to enjoy time with my kids without rushing them and without having everything over scheduled,” she said. Inspired by the stories of colleagues who had taken sabbaticals, Abi spoke to her manager.

Her leaders were supportive, in part because she planned far enough in advance and the timing was right. She left at a natural transition point at the end of an assignment, so no one had to cover for her. And she was flexible. “I left without knowing what role I was coming back to. I trusted my leadership that they would find the right next opportunity for me,” she said.

Abi took a three-month sabbatical. She spent the first two months enjoying unstructured time with her kids at home and exploring Cincinnati. During the final month, the family took a vacation to Europe. She said, “It’s the best decision I’ve made in my 19+ years at P&G.”

The experience validated her identity as a mother and a whole person. And it allowed her to return to work with a new perspective: “I renewed my energy. Now, I’m ready for what’s next.”

Disconnecting for Family Adventures

With just a minivan and camping gear, Claudine Zukowski, Senior Director of Community Impact, and her husband took a three-month sabbatical in 2010 to embark on a cross-country tour of U.S. national parks with their two children, then eight and 10.

“As working parents, we wanted to have the opportunity to spend some good quality time with our kids when they were younger,” she said.

Zukowski and her husband are P&G employees, and both have been with the Company 31 years. She started as a microbiologist in Beauty Care R&D. Her husband is in Skin Care R&D.

“We still talk about [the sabbatical] all the time. I think the memories and the stories that we all shared, the good and the bad, every bit of it was worth it,” she said. Their children still remind them of all the hikes they were dragged on, incentivized by ice cream, and the pictures the family took by the sign of each national park they visited, about 15 in all (whether they wanted to or not).

She says it’s one of the best benefits P&G offers. “It was a complete disconnect from the day-to-day work. I remember feeling refreshed and ready to dig into work again.”

Zukowski and her family are hoping to take another sabbatical next summer when her children graduate college.

Being Present Fueled Connections, Creativity

Anitra Marsh calls herself a “sabbatical evangelist.”
As Vice President of P&G Global Beauty Communications, Marsh has been with the Company 26 years and has taken two sabbaticals.

“My first sabbatical taught me the power of human connection and being able to be present and that really helped my creativity. I came back to P&G better because I was able to separate and really get in touch with the world around me,” she said. On day three, she remembers walking into an African clothing store that she never had time to visit and having a meaningful conversation with the owner, without the pressure of time.

In 2021, coming out of the pandemic, Marsh took her second sabbatical focused on connections. She spent time visiting friends, gardening and cooking.

Marsh acknowledged that taking an unpaid sabbatical takes advanced planning, but she recommends it to everyone who is able. “It can feel like, ‘Oh, I could never do this because the company needs me, and I can't step away.’ But we work for a company that has systems in place to manage this, and that's why the policy exists,” she said.

Marsh’s team was supportive and thrived in her absence, and she is now planning her next sabbatical.

Read more about P&G’s holistic wellbeing approach — across physical, mental, financial and work life wellbeing — that enables employees to be at their best.