CHICAGO and ATLANTA, May 23,
2017 /PRNewswire/ -- If you can't remember the last
time you took a vacation, you're not alone. While American workers
are stressed, they're not taking time away from
work. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 3 in 5 workers
(61 percent) say they are burned out in their current job, and 31
percent report high or extremely high levels of stress at work, yet
a third of all workers (33 percent) have not taken or do not plan
to take a vacation this year.
Survey Highlights
- 33 percent of workers said they won't be taking a vacation this
year, down slightly from 35% last year
- 3 in 10 workers still stay connected with work during
vacation
- Nearly 1 in 5 have left vacation days unused in 2016
- People in power positions – i.e., senior management and vice
presidents – are the least stressed of all workers
- Women were more likely to report high stress levels at work
than men
- Anger issues at work, depression and sleepless nights are among
stress-related symptoms workers say they have experienced
Are Workers Truly Getting Away or Are Vacations Causing More
Stress?
When workers do take advantage of vacation time,
they are often not fully disconnecting from their jobs — 3 in 10
(31 percent) check work email while away and nearly a fifth (18
percent) check in with work. More than a third (36 percent) say
that they've returned from vacation to find so much work, they wish
they'd never left at all, and 18 percent say vacations cause them
to be more stressed out about work. This could be the reason nearly
1 in 5 (17 percent) left vacation days on the table at the end of
last year.
The national study was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf
of CareerBuilder from February 16 to March
9, 2017 among a representative sample of 3,215 full-time,
private sector workers across industries in the U.S.
"If you're a boss, it's important that you role model how to
take a vacation," said Rosemary
Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. "If
you're prone to answering every email and phone call that comes
through on your own vacation time, consider the example you're
setting for your team members. You need to set up an automated
response email, and only respond to absolutely urgent emails while
you're away. Direct all calls to an assistant or colleague at the
office. Show your employees that vacation time matters to you and
to your company and its culture."
How is Stress Negatively Impacting
Workers?
Nearly a third of workers say work
causes high or extremely high stress levels for them — an issue
that is impacting women (34 percent) more than men (27 percent) —
and 79 percent say their company does not offer classes or programs
to manage that stress. As a result of stress, workers are
experiencing symptoms such as:
- Being tired all the time: 29 percent
- Sleepless nights: 26 percent
- Aches and pains: 24 percent
- High anxiety: 23 percent
- Weight gain: 18 percent
- Can't keep things straight in your head: 17 percent
- Anger issues at work: 16 percent
- Depression: 15 percent
- High blood pressure: 10 percent
- Weak immune system: 6 percent
- Nausea: 5 percent
- Hair loss: 5 percent
Stress is also impacting areas such as job satisfaction. A third
of workers with high levels of stress (33 percent) say they are
dissatisfied with their job. Seventeen percent of workers say they
are dissatisfied with their job overall.
While stress and being burned out impact workers across the
organization, the bottom ranks seem to be more burned out than
others:
- Senior management/vice president1: 43 percent
- Director/manager/supervisor/team leader: 69 percent
- Professional/technical staff member: 58 percent
- Entry level/administrative/clerical: 61 percent
How to Take a Real Vacation
The following tips can
help you moderate working on vacation while quelling guilt pangs —
so you don't reach the end of your holiday needing another one.
Tell everyone you're off: People will think twice about
contacting you about the small stuff if they know you're on
vacation. So whether you're planning a quiet staycation or a trip
halfway around the world, let your manager, colleagues and clients
know you'll be off the clock. In addition, set an out-of-office
message to let folks know you won't be answering emails or phone
calls — or, if you will stay connected, explain in the auto-reply
that they shouldn't expect a reply right away.
Deploy and delegate: To make sure business and client
needs are taken care of in your absence, set the auto-reply on your
email to provide the names and contact information for the
colleagues who are covering for you. Be sure to give those
coworkers any important files, project statuses and other pertinent
information so they won't have to contact you unless it's an
absolute emergency.
Set aside check-in times: If you can't resist the call of
duty — or find it nearly impossible to relax without knowing all is
well — consider setting aside some time each day to touch
base. Checking in once in the morning and once in the evening may
give you peace of mind and permission to stop thinking about work
the rest of the day. That way, you can leave your work cellphone
turned off — and not feel bad about it — when you're supposed to be
relaxing and having fun.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online
within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among
3,215 employees (employed full-time, not self-employed,
non-government) between February 16 and March 9,
2017 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset,
based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure
probability sample of 3,215, one could say with a 95 percent
probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-
1.73 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is
higher and varies.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is a global,
end-to-end human capital solutions company focused on helping
employers find, hire and manage great talent. Combining
advertising, software and services, CareerBuilder leads the
industry in recruiting solutions, employment screening and human
capital management. It also operates top job sites around the
world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO)
and McClatchy (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries
operate in the United States,
Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit
www.careerbuilder.com.
Media Contact
Ladan Nikravan
Hayes
312.698.0538 x70538
ladan.hayes@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR
1 Low base size (less than 100)
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SOURCE CareerBuilder