More bosses taking vacation than employees, according to CareerBuilder survey

- More workers planning to go on a vacation this year, but one in five still can't afford one

- Nineteen percent of full-time workers say they can't afford to take a vaction, down from 24 percent in 2011

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Jun 21, 2012, 06:00 ET

CHICAGO, June 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The recession caused many American workers to rule out their annual vacations, but according to a new survey from CareerBuilder, bosses are finding more time for getaways than their workers. Eighty-one percent of managers have taken or plan to take vacation this year, compared to 65 percent of full-time employees.

INFOGRAPHIC: Summer Vacation Outlook

While the number of American workers who have already taken or plan to take a vacation is up from 61 percent in 2011, the number of vacationers falls well below pre-financial crisis levels. In 2007, 80 percent of full-time workers went on vacation or expected to take a vacation that year.

The nationwide survey – conducted February 9 to March 2, 2012, among more than 5,000 full-time workers and more than 2,000 managers – found that vacations are still financially out of reach for many Americans. One in five workers (19 percent) said they can't afford to go on vacation, which is down from 24 percent in 2011. An additional 12 percent of workers say they can afford vacations, but have no plans to take one, consistent with past years.

"Managers may be more likely to afford vacations, but they should still be encouraging their employees to use paid time off, even if they are staying close to home," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "Workers who maximize vacation time are less likely to burn out and more likely to maintain productivity levels. Heavy workloads and financial constraints can make it difficult to get away from work, but even if you're not traveling far from home, a few days away can have have a very postive impact on your health and happiness."

The survey reveals several other vacation trends and topics of note:

Duration of vacations shrinking post-recession – This year, 17 percent of workers took or planned to take a vacation for ten days or more. That's down from 24 percent in 2007.
Many workers contact work while on vacation – Three in ten workers contact work during their vacation, on par with last year. More than a third of managers (37 percent) say they expect their employees to check with work while on vacation, although most say only if the employee is involved in a big project or major issue going on with the company.
Letting paid time off go to waste – 15 percent of workers reported they gave up vacation days last year because they didn't have time to use them, down slightly from 16 percent who gave up days in 2010.
"Stay-cations" are a popular option – Nearly two in five workers (38 percent) stayed home or are planning to stay home this year.
Working while the family vacations – Twenty-three percent of workers say they once had to work while the family went on vacation without them, consistent with last year (24 percent).

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,303 U.S. hiring managers and human resource professionals and 5,772 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) ages 18 and over between February 9 and March 2, 2012 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 5,772 and 2,303, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-1.29 and +/-2.04 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset - their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 45 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to recruitment support. More than 10,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder's proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact
Jennifer Grasz
773-527-1164
[email protected]

SOURCE CareerBuilder