FMJeff
06-30-2003, 07:26 PM
I couldn't find a more appropriate topic for That's Life: (June 25 ) - If it feels like you're stuck behind your desk on a sunny summer day while the rest of the world is on vacation, that's because you are and it is.
Few other industrialized countries have as little vacation time as America, where there aren't even legal guarantees of vacation time.
Just ask Matthew Mortellaro. Working in his first job out of college, the 23-year-old New York City-based publicist is already disillusioned with the world of work. The reason? He only gets five paid vacation days a year.
Mortellaro's company, which he declined to name, grants five vacation days to its employees after they've been working at the job more than six months. A year later, they get a total of 10 vacation days.
But for the St. Louis native, who often uses his vacation time to go home to visit his family, the short amount of time off has become a sore subject, especially when friends in Europe enjoy a month of vacation each year in their first jobs out of school.
"It kind of annoys me and makes me feel unfulfilled," says Mortellaro. "Is that all my life is about - working? What's the point of working all the time when all you do is work? I want to be able to appreciate it, too."
Mortellaro's experience is typical of many Americans, most of whom get very little vacation time when compared to workers in other industrialized nations. U.S. workers aren't guaranteed any vacation time by law and take an average of 10.2 vacation days a year after three years on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In contrast, workers in the United Kingdom are guaranteed 20 paid vacation days by law and take an average of 25 days off a year. Even in notoriously hard-working Japan, workers have a legal right to 10 days off and take an average of almost 18 vacation days a year.
Vacation Time Shrinking
Now there are signs many Americans are taking even less vacation. With the U.S. unemployment rate continuing to tick upwards, many recruiters and work-life experts say they're noticing workers are becoming more reluctant to take time off.
Nearly half of 730 executives recently surveyed, for instance, said they would not use all of the vacation time they were entitled to this year, according to Cleveland-based search and recruitment firm Management Recruiters International, known as MRI. Of those executives, 58 percent said their workloads were responsible for the decision.
"At the very senior level, you're seeing a complete burnout of vacation time - [executives] are just not taking it," says Patrick Sylvester, chief executive of Banister International, MRI's Philadelphia-based global job placement division. "They're stretched, there's a lot less of them and they're under a lot of pressure to deliver."
And with many companies possibly looking to further cut their employee headcount, many workers are hesitant to leave the office for long periods of time lest they be perceived as slacking off - and expendable.
"That's part of the American workplace culture, devotion as demonstrated through longer days and longer years," says Lonnie Golden, associate professor of economics at Penn State University in Abington, Pa. "When times are good they think it lends itself to promotion, when times are bad they think it gives them security."
Taking Off But Plugging In
Workplace experts say they are also noticing another trend - people going on vacation but not really leaving the office, using some of their time off to check in with the office and clients.
Charly Rok, a 38-year-old New York City-based public relations executive, is one example. Rok sometimes goes away on vacation for a few days at a time, but rarely takes a full week off. And even on the short trips that she does manage to take, she checks her work e-mails and returns phone calls so she doesn't miss any important work.
"It's hard in this industry and in this economy. You need to deliver, you need to be accessible and you need to multi-task," she says.
That kind
Few other industrialized countries have as little vacation time as America, where there aren't even legal guarantees of vacation time.
Just ask Matthew Mortellaro. Working in his first job out of college, the 23-year-old New York City-based publicist is already disillusioned with the world of work. The reason? He only gets five paid vacation days a year.
Mortellaro's company, which he declined to name, grants five vacation days to its employees after they've been working at the job more than six months. A year later, they get a total of 10 vacation days.
But for the St. Louis native, who often uses his vacation time to go home to visit his family, the short amount of time off has become a sore subject, especially when friends in Europe enjoy a month of vacation each year in their first jobs out of school.
"It kind of annoys me and makes me feel unfulfilled," says Mortellaro. "Is that all my life is about - working? What's the point of working all the time when all you do is work? I want to be able to appreciate it, too."
Mortellaro's experience is typical of many Americans, most of whom get very little vacation time when compared to workers in other industrialized nations. U.S. workers aren't guaranteed any vacation time by law and take an average of 10.2 vacation days a year after three years on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In contrast, workers in the United Kingdom are guaranteed 20 paid vacation days by law and take an average of 25 days off a year. Even in notoriously hard-working Japan, workers have a legal right to 10 days off and take an average of almost 18 vacation days a year.
Vacation Time Shrinking
Now there are signs many Americans are taking even less vacation. With the U.S. unemployment rate continuing to tick upwards, many recruiters and work-life experts say they're noticing workers are becoming more reluctant to take time off.
Nearly half of 730 executives recently surveyed, for instance, said they would not use all of the vacation time they were entitled to this year, according to Cleveland-based search and recruitment firm Management Recruiters International, known as MRI. Of those executives, 58 percent said their workloads were responsible for the decision.
"At the very senior level, you're seeing a complete burnout of vacation time - [executives] are just not taking it," says Patrick Sylvester, chief executive of Banister International, MRI's Philadelphia-based global job placement division. "They're stretched, there's a lot less of them and they're under a lot of pressure to deliver."
And with many companies possibly looking to further cut their employee headcount, many workers are hesitant to leave the office for long periods of time lest they be perceived as slacking off - and expendable.
"That's part of the American workplace culture, devotion as demonstrated through longer days and longer years," says Lonnie Golden, associate professor of economics at Penn State University in Abington, Pa. "When times are good they think it lends itself to promotion, when times are bad they think it gives them security."
Taking Off But Plugging In
Workplace experts say they are also noticing another trend - people going on vacation but not really leaving the office, using some of their time off to check in with the office and clients.
Charly Rok, a 38-year-old New York City-based public relations executive, is one example. Rok sometimes goes away on vacation for a few days at a time, but rarely takes a full week off. And even on the short trips that she does manage to take, she checks her work e-mails and returns phone calls so she doesn't miss any important work.
"It's hard in this industry and in this economy. You need to deliver, you need to be accessible and you need to multi-task," she says.
That kind