There are those people who use every single minute of every vacation day they’re given. And there are those people who spend every waking hour at the office, rarely taking time off and definitely never leaving town on a real vacation.
According to an OfficeTeam survey of 1,000 senior managers at companies with 20 or more employees, 31 percent plan to take no time off and 25 percent plan to take only one or two days at most before the end of the year. This, despite “use it or lose it” vacation policies and employer-provided days off, according to The Star-Ledger.
And chances are, during that time they’re away, they’ll still be connected to the job, according to an Adecco survey. After talking to 1,000 people, the company found that almost 1 in 5 Americans who use phone and e-mail at work will spend more than 5 hours checking said e-mail and voicemails on major holidays like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
“Most managers say they are too nervous or overloaded with work to take more than a day off through the end of the year,” according to The Star-Ledger. “Job security also is a concern. Sales at some companies still haven’t rebounded, and unemployment remains in the double digits in many states. As a result, higher-salaried managers are unnerved.”
It seems to me that at a time when stress levels and uncertainty are at an all-time high, the best thing employees can do is truly disconnect and leave the worries of the office behind for at least a few days around the holidays. Studies have shown that people who take the vacation time they’re given are more productive and return to their jobs rejuvenated and better able to tackle the workload.
What about you? Will you be using all of your vacation days? Will you feel comfortable disconnecting from the office when you do?
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Central & Southern New Jersey. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @CarnegieJersey.
Photo credit: rayced