After a surge of users during the pandemic, the dating app Bumble said it will give a "much-needed" paid week off for its 700 employees.

Bumble and other dating apps grew in popularity, as many around the world found themselves isolated and seeking virtual interactions. Bumble became a virtual fix for many bored people in lockdown.

The Bumble global staff were told to unplug and focus on themselves to deal with the collective burnout from the past year.

Bumble's head of editorial content Clare O’Conner said Monday in a now-deleted tweet that founder Whitney Wolfe Herd’s decision to allow a week of vacation was “having correctly intuited our collective burnout.”

Bumble did state that a few customer support staff will be working in case of user-experience issues. The customer service staff will also be given one week of paid vacation.

It was announced in April “that all Bumble employees will have a paid, fully offline one-week vacation in June."

Wolfe is known for her gratitude to Bumble employees. They can choose their hours of work as long as everything is getting done. Along with a provided private lactation space, manicures, hair trims, and "blowouts" which the founder said showed "appreciation for our busy bees" offered in its headquarters in Texas.

Many applauded the decision on Twitter calling it a "good publicity and morale boost for staff" and a "big deal especially in America where paid leave is scarce."

Cary Cooper, president of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and professor of organizational psychology and health at the University of Manchester, has suggestions to avoid workplace “burnout” situations.

  • Take control
  • Don't work consistently long hours
  • engage in activities unrelated to work
  • Connect socially with friends and people you like
  • Have some "me time"
  • Avoid unhealthy behaviors and negative coping mechanisms
  • Help other people
  • Be positive

Bumble reported a 30% boost in paid users and $171 million in total revenue for the first quarter of 2021.