As the summer holiday season comes to a close, a large proportion of US workers say they aren’t taking vacation time despite burnout, often due to high costs.
Forty-two percent of workers report that they have not taken a vacation during the last 12 months, a new study found. Nearly half of workers (47%) say the expense of taking a vacation is the biggest impediment to taking time off, according to a workforce survey from Eagle Hill Consulting conducted by Ipsos. These findings come as employee burnout remains alarmingly high across the US workforce. About half (49%) of American employees say that they are feeling burnout at work.
“Employees really need time to disconnect from work, especially as we continue to see high burnout levels across the U.S. workforce,” said Melissa Jezior, President and CEO of Eagle Hill Consulting. “And ideally, employees should fully disengage from work rather than constantly checking email and responding to messages.”
JOB PRESSURES
“It’s not just employees who benefit from taking time off. When there is time to rest and take a break from job pressures, employers are far more likely to have an engaged workforce at its peak performance. It’s incumbent upon employers to create a culture that encourages employees to both regularly take time off and fully unplug from their job while they’re away,” Jezior explained.
The survey also revealed that:
- 42% of workers have not taken time off in the last 12 months, highest among younger workers (50%) and lower income employees (56%).
- Workers say the impediments to taking a fully unplugged vacation include the expense of taking a vacation (47%), self-imposed pressure to stay on top of work (31%), a heavy workload (27%), no paid time off (25%), and no colleagues available to cover their workload (25%).
- Many employees are not fully unplugging during time off. While 54% say they fully disconnect from work during vacation, 28% say they check work email and messages; and 6% say they continue to work during vacation.
RELATED ARTICLES
Did you know that a four-day working week and flexible hours are the most desired employee benefits globally? Click here to continue reading.
Younger and Generation Z employees want wellbeing perks to replace outdated benefits, according to a recent study. Click here to read more.
Sign up for our newsletter
