Duolingo gives staff 2 weeks off over the holidays — and the CEO says it pays off
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- Duolingo gives its staff two weeks off over the holidays, allowing employees to truly unplug.
- CEO Luis von Ahn says companywide breaks beat individual PTO for rest, focus, and morale.
- The 2-week winter break costs money, but he says it helps build a company that lasts.
Duolingo may be a publicly traded tech company with nearly 1,000 employees, but every winter it does something many corporate leaders would consider unthinkable: it gives staff a two-week break at the same time.
This is a policy that has been in place since day one, CEO and cofounder of the language-learning app, Luis von Ahn, said.
At a time when many companies are laying off tens of thousands of staff, tightening their budgets, rolling back flexible work arrangements, and scrutinizing productivity, Duolingo's approach stands out.
This year, even after growing head count by 14% to about 950 employees, von Ahn said Duolingo kept the tradition intact, giving every employee the same two weeks off.
"For a public company, it probably sounds… unconventional," von Ahn wrote in a recent LinkedIn post.
But he said the benefits far outweigh the costs.
Most vacations don't actually let people unplug
Von Ahn's core argument is that most time off isn't designed for real rest.
When employees take individual vacations, work continues without them. Slack messages pile up. Emails go unanswered. Even while away, there's a persistent sense of missing out — and an inevitable scramble to catch up afterward, he said.
Duolingo avoids that by having everyone step away at the same time. Aside from a small rotating "skeleton" crew that keeps the app running, most work pauses, he added.
"When you return, there's no pile to dig out from," von Ahn said. That, he said, is essential for people to truly disconnect and spend quality time with family or focus on life outside work.
Two weeks off matters for a global workforce
The policy also reflects the reality of Duolingo's international team.
While some employees can visit their families with a short flight or weekend trip, many others live thousands of miles away from home. For them, a standard weekend off barely justifies a 10-hour flight each way, von Ahn said.
The two-week winter break gives employees enough buffer to travel overseas and spend quality time with their families, he added.
Long breaks create space for reflection, not just rest
Von Ahn also said that extended time off gives employees space to reflect on how their personal goals align with their work — and with the rest of their lives.
Duolingo's mission is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available.
That kind of reflection is harder to achieve with shorter, fragmented vacations.
This policy is a cost to the company largely because employees are being paid while not working their usual hours. However, von Ahn said the tradeoff is worthwhile.
"Building a company that lasts means protecting the things that matter," he said.