Travel Outfits Offer Solutions to Companies for Pandemic Worker Burnout

Many employees have been left frazzled after two years of challenging conditions, often involving isolation and stress as they juggle personal and professional lives working from home due to coronavirus lockdowns, despite the positive spin that’s put on a more remote future.

But there could be some respite as accommodation providers pitch vacations to companies that help staff recuperate after suffering burnout, or as a means to recharge if signs of exhaustion start showing. But will companies accept liability if they’ve pushed staff too hard and offer so-called burnout breaks as an employee benefit?

One New Jersey-based entrepreneur thinks they will, and is launching a network of properties in the south of France this summer, tapping into the healing powers of nature, and of course fine food and wine.

Franco-American Serge Lescouarnec is well-qualified for the venture — running a home concierge business for 10 years for busy executives, he's been able to identify the signs of burnout first-hand among clients. He also suffered himself. “I burned out,” he said. “I had a couple of episodes where my brain was kind of fried and I needed to rest for a week. I could feel it, the body’s there but the brain is not there.”

Lescouarnec has now begun work on Mediterranean Work & Play and is contracting different "gites" and rental homes near towns like Perpignan and Carcassonne. The properties will be large enough so guests can invite friends or family, while he will curate a list of activities, including hiking and wine tours. “As part of that burnout prevention I also want to focus on wellness. There are a lot of places that have hot springs, or offer massages,” he added.

Stays from 30 to 90 days will be on offer, and guests can check in across different properties in the network. Lescouarnec is currently targeting companies in New York, where he hopes the healing properties of the Mediterranean lifestyle could sway overworked executives.

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