I don't mean state intervention as most programmers are quite privileged, but a company that creates something like skunk works for people for burned out people
As Steve Jobs put it, "we're in a business of making phones, not hiring people". It makes way more sense for a company to get rid of an employee when they admit to burn out, rather than try to help them.
Yes, but I think this and (un)paid sabbaticals may attract a elite talent that is in short supply (at least in the US). But then again this is my speculation.
*If* such a thing could be done under typical corporate incentives/behavior, then I suspect the “high impact” part would need to be scrapped. Because when something is important to a corporation, it turns its eyes that thing (so to speak), which disrupts the other properties.
Or, “high impact” could be spread over the long term. So, unknown-payoff R&D. It would need to be an “invest and ignore” strategy and require a lot of institutional trust.