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June 8, 2006
Impact of paltry vacations on younger workers
Over my career, I've seen both ends of the vacation spectrum: my very first job (in the communications department of the pharmaceutical company Bayer) came with two weeks of paid vacation, whereas my last corporate position (still with Bayer but based in Germany), came with the European luxury of six weeks of paid vacation with up to another four weeks of comp time to make up for time I worked in excess of the standard 37.5 hour work week. (For the record, I have four weeks of paid vacation in my current role at Edelman).
So even though I'm in good shape vacation-wise now, I remember the days of only two weeks off and how impossible it was to achieve relaxation or live life in general with only 10 days to do it in. An article in the New York Times on this subject details an interesting trend among younger workers: to get around having so little vacation, many are just quitting, taking time off, then finding a new job. While this is certainly a small percentage of workers, it should be somewhat alarming to companies that would ultimately benefit far more from giving workers additional vacation rather than having them walk out the door and need to be replaced.
Perhaps the real solution is a continued move toward "work/life flexibility," where companies realize that the days of the 9-to-5 workday are gone and provide employees with corresponding flexible hours and working arrangements. This could (and should) be extended to freely granting employees unpaid time off, extended maternity/paternity leaves, sabbaticals and the ability to pool or buy/sell vacation time.
Posted by Christopher at June 8, 2006 2:56 PM
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Comments
Christopher, thank you for this posting as I also read the NY Times article. As a 30-something marketing professional, I agree with you that more companies should move toward 'work/life flexibility'. And offer more alternatives for enabling time off such as unpaid leave, buying/pooling pool time, etc. I recently got laid off because I took too much time off and hadn't 'accrued enough time'. I had the 'misfortune of getting sick' with the flu on one occasion and bronchitis on another occasion, and had to stay home so that I could get better in order to be more productive in the office. I actually support the individuals in the article who chose to leave their current employers as a lot of companies, due to their lack of flexibility, in essence don't leave their employees with any other choice. Too many companies force employees to choose between work and spending time with family, taking care of health issues, going on holiday, etc. And they make you feel guilty for wanting to have a life outside of your career. I grew up in the West Indies and we 'holiday' based on the European system--just as you were rewarded during your Bayer tenure in Germany with paid holiday & comp holiday time. Unfortunately, some companies still don't get it, ultimately losing very valuable resources & brand ambassadors-their employees-and don't see that they benefit far more from giving additional holiday time rather than having employees walk out the door and need to be replaced.
Posted by: Raycent at June 27, 2006 7:22 AM