Blog Post
This Memorial Day, Help Take Back $67 Billion in Vacation Days
As Americans kick off the Memorial Day holiday weekend, an Expedia survey notes that we wasted $67 billion in vacation days last year.
Image by Flickr user kubina, used under Creative Commons license.
According to the results, the average American also receives and uses less vacation days than people in other industrialized countries. For example, the average American worker got 18 vacation days, but only used 14. Whereas, French (37 vacation days) and British (28 vacation days) citizens all received and used substantially more time off.
One of the reasons for the unused vacation time is many Americans cannot take the time off because they are over-worked. In the shadows of the Great Recession, many U.S. workers are performing multiple jobs. Other reasons cited by analysts commenting in response to this story are that due to the recession, many do not believe they can afford to take the time off, either because their employers are not supportive, they have anxiety about their jobs or their own personal finances preclude them from taking vacations.
Regardless of a person's work situation it is critical to take time off periodically to recharge, and it is important for companies to invest in wellness programs (see for example, GovWin member company Greenleaf Integrative Strategies) to help reduce stress, improve productivity and create a psychologically healthy workplace.
What do you think about unused vacation time in America?
Do American companies need to provide more vacation time? Do Americans need to be more demanding about taking time off? Join our discussion below and let us know what you think. Above all, on behalf of the entire GovWin team, have a happy and safe Memorial Day holiday.
Michael Hackmer is the Senior Community Manager of GovWin.com, the network that helps government contractors win new business every day. He also blogs on Colliding with the Social Web and is the host of Social Web Radio. He can be reached at michaelhackmer@govwin.com, or you can follow him on Twitter @hackmer.
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Michael Hackmer
Senior Community Manager for GovWin, and founder and director of Our Solutions (www.oursolutions.org)
Comments:
I probably shouldn't talk...