As we enter the third year of the pandemic we continue to hear how Elasticians are juggling work, home, families, friends, and not to mention the other stressors that occur in everyday life. It is our goal to always support our employees where we can. That’s why Shut It Down days mean so much to Elasticians.

The purpose of our Shut It Down days is to create extra space for our employees—it’s an evolution of our culture. Space, Time is a tenet of our Source Code. Instead of getting stuck in the day-to-day work pattern, we prioritize allowing for the space and time to breathe, recalibrate, and come back recharged.

Shut It Down days, explained

Shut It Down days are paid days off that allow Elasticians to get some breathing room. They apply to employees worldwide, which means we take into account more than 40 countries' holiday schedules in planning them, because that’s what being a distributed company means.

Shut It Down days were first announced in April 2020 in response to the global pandemic—we wanted to give our employees space to process what was going on in the world. After two years and overwhelming positive employee feedback, we recently announced that they will continue. Shut It Down days give Elasticians 20+ paid days off in addition to their PTO.

And the name ‘shut it down’ is exactly what happens on these prescribed days—the company shuts down. You don’t return on the next working day to a full inbox, or a days’ worth of missed meetings and catch-up to do. Elasticians are off on these days, with the exception of some key customer-facing and functional teams who may have to work or take shifts—their commitment doesn’t go unnoticed.

What Elasticians have to say

We’ve heard from Elasticans how much these days, that happen twice a month, have helped bring a bit of equilibrium to their lives over the past two challenging years.

So, we asked Elasticians what they’ve used their Shut It Down days for, or how having this benefit has helped them, and were overwhelmed with the responses. See a selection of them below:

“Shut It Down Days have tremendous reach beyond Elasticians–families and communities too! Thank you for investing in our well-being–it's motivating and gives us the space (and rest!) to do our best work at Elastic”.
- Jessica Taylor, Principal Product Marketing, Enterprise Search

“Each Shut It Down day, I go and pick up one of my daughters from school to enjoy 2 hours of quality time with them over the lunch break. It's a common ask at home "when is your next shut it down day??””. - Jean-Yves Robert, Customer Success Manager - EMEA (South)

“These have been so helpful as my family navigates through a recent health issue.”
- Matthew Buck, Director, Enterprise Customers

“My family has been going through a very challenging year or so with a health issue. These days not only provide some mental relief but well needed time. I can't say enough about how emotionally intelligent Elastic has proven itself to be. From peers to management, Elastic truly lives its source code. All my professional peers are jealous of our priceless perk.”
- Mark Thompson, Director, OEM Business Development

“We are going through challenging times and anyone who thinks that these days don't make a difference is wrong. These Fridays give us mental relief and energy so we can get back to normal work days and do our best for this amazing company. Thank you very much. These decisions show the difference between Elastic and the rest.”
- Renato Leite, Senior Services Engagement Manager, Americas

It’s important to us, as a company, to support our Elasticians and live up to our Source Code. Shut It Down days are continuing, and we hope that all Elasticians can use them to find some space and time to recharge.

Come Shut It Down with us. Learn more about careers at Elastic below.