Why not just work part time, seems a no brainer to me. Work 10 less hours a week, you'll keep up with your peers easily, and you'll have fresh time and projects on the side
8 years ago, the startup I worked at folded with an eng team size of 8. I spent 3 years working part time and side projects, my coworkers joined big tech (LinkedIn and Airbnb). They road the 2021 boom and ended up 1-2 levels higher than me with 3-5x more pay. 5 years after returning, I’m just now catching up to them.
Thats unfortunate I'm sorry to hear. But it is also a sample size of 1.
My experience, working part time for 6 months, is that my side projects have differentiated me from other candidates, and get me a foot in the door for interviews. They usually say most candidates are the exact same, and the only way to differentiate and get an edge is: Perfect GPA; Successful projects; Sought after niche skills; Leadership experience.
But I've also had 2 relatively successful side projects (and tens of failed ones), so without those I'm not sure how I'd go
TL;DR: part time basically pauses careers.