A recent survey of more than 3,000 US workers for employment search site FlexJobs found that almost a quarter didn’t take a vacation day during the past year and – more concerning to the study’s authors – as many as 82% “avoid using” their accrued time off. Why?
Kelsey Szamet, an employment lawyer, says the reason is a shift in mentality. “Many employees are concerned about the security of their jobs,” she told Quartz. “The adoption of AI and automation technologies has allowed employees to actually consider their own replaceability before requesting a leave or a holiday, or any kind of time-off benefit.”
Are you hesitant to take time off because of a slowing economy and the onset of AI? Don’t be. As a business owner with hundreds of business clients, and an employer myself, I know many people – successful people working at companies – who have no problem using their allotted vacation time each year.
These people take ownership of their jobs, and make sure they get them done. My company offers unlimited paid time off (PTO) to our employees. I don’t track their vacation time. I don’t care where they are, and when they’re working. They’re hired to fulfill obligations and I leave it to them to do what they believe is right to meet those responsibilities. If that doesn’t happen because they’re taking “too much” vacation, well, that’s a matter to discuss when their performance reviews roll around.
Good employers also understand that PTO is compensation. Discouraging an employee from taking vacation is like telling them to take a cut in pay. You’ve made the commitment in writing. You better not renege. This is not only good practice, but discouraging PTO is potential wage theft. If you’re working for someone who practices this kind of wage theft, my advice would be to find somewhere else to work.
I once coached a Little League baseball team alongside a corporate operations specialist who made every game, every practice, even out-of-town tournaments. I once asked him how. He told me it was simple: “Whenever I have something to do, my first thought is, who on my team will be doing it for me?”
Delegate. Share work. Be a team member. Build resources around you. Cover for your colleagues when they want to take some time off, and they’ll return the favor. Be smarter about how you work, so you can enjoy the days when you’re not working.
Then there’s technology. So many employees are afraid that AI is going to take their jobs. You think a manager doesn’t have the same fears? The truth is that AI is so immature right now, it’s taking more time to review the slop that it generates than it’s saving. True, this will change. And the smartest employees will embrace it, and use it to do more of their jobs, so that they can be even more productive and valuable to their employers, and also take more time off because technology is able to cover for them.
AI does not have to be a job killer. It can be a vacation-enabler. Start planning for this eventuality, and you’ll have a better work/life balance in the years to come.
Also, PTO has changed. This is not 1980. There is the internet. There is your iPhone. You don’t need to go completely dark. Worst-case scenario: you’re catching up on work in a ski lodge. Or in a cafe in Rome. Or by the pool in Aruba. It’s still better than your workspace in the office.
Above all, communication is key. Maybe your boss is a jerk, and I realize that happens. But most managers aren’t jerks. They just don’t want any problems for themselves.
So don’t create any. Take your time off, but try to understand if they need you. Check in with them regularly and quickly, even on vacation, just to make sure they’re cool. If they’re normal people, they’ll scold you for doing so, but will also be secretly grateful. Make sure they know your plans, when you’re gone, when you’ll be back and how to reach you if they need. The grand majority will leave you be.
Maybe the FlexJobs survey is accurate. Maybe – like so many other surveys that get sent to me – they’ve got their own agenda, like attracting more job applicants to their site.
But taking their results at face value, I think employees who are afraid to take time off are being overly fearful.
Believe it or not, chances are that your boss wants you to take vacation. They want you not to be stressed. They care that you’re happy working at your job – and for their company.
