Have a vacation coming up? Are you looking forward to some time away from work? Or do you feel guilty about taking your vacation days? If you do, you’re not alone.
Recently I had a conversation with our Executive Search team about upcoming vacation plans and an interesting theme popped up. Many people don’t take traditional vacations anymore. They are forgoing the traditional one or two-week trips and taking shorter stints away from work. Some do it for financial reasons. Others do it because they don’t want to be away from work or their company culture kind of frowns upon those who take too much vacation time.
I did some digging online and found a Forbes article by Bryan Robinson, Ph.D that confirms this trend. He says:
“Employees no longer take weeks off flying to exotic destinations or lying in the sun, playing in the surf on a desolate beach, with piles of work miles away stacked back on their office desks. The average vacation has morphed into a no-cation, micro-cation, daycation, staycation or hushcation.”
Survey Finds People Are Struggling Disconnect From Work
In my research, I came across an interesting survey by the communications and growth firm Movchan Agency by Robinson. The survey found:
- 47% of Americans struggle to disconnect from work.
- 54% of people work while on vacation.
- 59% of people struggle to switch off from work while on vacation.
- 63% of people feel anxious if they don’t check their work-related messages while on vacation.
- 54% feel guilty if they work while on vacation.
- 47% feel guilty if they don’t work while on vacation.
- 34% of people choose to work while on vacation because they love their job. However, 29% do so out of fear of losing it.
Another survey by the Harris Poll found employees struggle to ask for time off and feel guilty when they do take days off. They found that 78% of people don’t take all their days off. When they do 60% struggle to fully disconnect and 56% have taken work calls or meetings during their time off. Overall, 47% say they feel guilty about taking time off.
This information got our Toronto recruiters thinking about if Canadians feel the same. So, we did our own poll.
Do You Feel Guilty For Taking Vacation Time?
According to an IQPARTNERS LinkedIn poll, it would seem that our followers don’t feel the same. Only 32% of the people said they feel guilty for fully disconnecting from work, while 65% said they have no problem taking a guilt-free vacation.
Based on surveys in the U.S. and our poll, there is a big difference in how employees view vacation time. Canadians feel much less guilty about taking time off.
Hopefully, you can enjoy some guilt-free time off this summer!
More Insights From Our Executive Search Recruiters
How to Get Hired During the Summer Slowdown
How Can Employers And Candidates Capitalize on the Job Market’s “Summer Lull”?
