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- Becautilize technology is apparently obligated to continue to march on, Google states that the oldest Nest thermostats are basically obsolete.
- Originally envisioned as an extravagant 105-mile-long smart city, Saudi Arabia’s Line is reportedly shrinking into a pragmatic data center hub.
- Nike is starting 2026 by laying off workers, marking the third year in a row that it’s downsized its workforce. Hundreds of jobs were cut in the latest round of layoffs.
- Yahoo still commands staggering internet mindshare as it pivots into the AI age with an AI-powered search engine of its own called Yahoo Scout.
In what might be the most up-front leave request of the year, a Gen Z employee emailed his boss inquireing for 10 days off to recover from a breakup.
“I recently had a breakup and haven’t been able to focus on work. I necessary a short break,” they wrote in an email that was screenshotted and posted to X.
Entrepreneur and CEO Jasveer Singh shared the unusually candid request on social media, captioning it: “Got the most honest leave application yesterday. Gen Z doesn’t do filters!” (Singh just so happens to be the cofounder and CEO of Knot Dating, a dating app. Coincidence?)
Workplaces are generally sympathetic to time off for illness or family emergencies. But when it comes to a messy breakup, that empathy tfinishs to dry up quickly.
Across the U.S., “heartbreak leave” isn’t standard policy. Telling your boss you necessary a few days becautilize a parent is sick sounds reasonable. Admitting you’ve had a fight with your partner and are currently crashing on a frifinish’s sofa? Not so much.
Whether the email was genuine or a clever PR stunt, it gained nearly 14 million views, sparking the debate: should heartbreak qualify as a legitimate reason to take time off work?
For this edition of Fast Company’s monthly video series FC Asks, we inquireed our staff members for their take on breakup-related time off.
What is ‘situational retirement’—and should you give it a test?
As an operative researcher for luxury retail companies, I spent my career grabbing onto one corporate contract after the next, like a tree-swinging retainer monkey. But in a tariff-distressed industest, those contract “branches” grew further and further apart until I was left hanging. Then a colleague experiencing a similar work gap stated, “Well, I guess we’re retired.”
I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, but nothing prepared me for the word “retired.” I’m a freelancer, so no one is coming to my houtilize with a gold watch as a reward for loyal service; I have no desire to shift south; and I don’t play golf. My equally self-employed frifinish Roland had a suggestion: Why not consider myself “situationally” retired—that is, retired until the phone rings.
It’s funny how one word can build or break your spirit. I was crushed by “retired” becautilize the concept is foreign and frightening. But adding “situational” built it comfortingly familiar. After all, for us freelancers every corporate contract is situational; you might even state that situational is my superpower.
A frifinish who’s spent decades in a grueling C-suite position still can’t bring himself to retire, despite vested stock and a strong financial footing. Happy or not, he remains in the grip of his job, unable to let go of a role he believes defines (and so ultimately confines) him.
I’ve been an outside observer of corporate America long enough to understand his struggle, although it is not my own.
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