Is vacation time important to doing well at work?
July 30th, 2008By Tammy Stankey
As I was driving to work listening to KWMU I heard a statistic on American Public Radio’s Marketplace Morning Report that surprised me: According to a poll taken in April by the Conference Board, fewer than 40 percent of Americans planned a summer vacation this year – the lowest measurement of planned vacation in 30 years. Perhaps more startling to me was that the average American worker earns just 14 days for vacation in a year. I went online and found this CNN report listing the U.S. second to last (above Vietnam) for minimum paid vacation. Reviewing the list was interesting. For example, I know my Canadian in-laws that work for the government receive four – six weeks paid vacation per year – something not represented on this chart.
Fortunately for me, I’ve been at Standing for nearly 10 years and have earned four weeks of vacation. But what about those who, for a variety of reasons, have to change jobs every three-or-so years? Is two weeks of vacation adequate to maintain a high level of productivity, job satisfaction and still address the needs at home? In today’s economy, are people willing and able to take vacations? What do you think?
