Forty-Two Percent of U.S. Workforce Not Taking Vacation, New Eagle Hill Consulting Research Finds

As the summer vacation season comes to a close, a large share of workers say they aren’t taking vacation time, often due to the high costs. Forty-two percent of U.S. workers report that they have not taken a vacation during the last 12 months. Nearly half of workers (47 percent) say the expense of taking a vacation is the biggest impediment to taking time off, according to Eagle Hill Consulting research.

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These findings come as employee burnout remains alarmingly high across the U.S. workforce. About half (49 percent) of American employees say that they are feeling burnout at work.

“Employees really need time to disconnect from work, especially as we continue to see high burnout levels across the U.S. workforce,” said Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. “And ideally, employees should fully disengage from work rather than constantly checking email and responding to messages.”

“It’s not just employees who benefit from taking time off. When there is time to rest and take a break from job pressures, employers are far more likely to have an engaged workforce at its peak performance. It’s incumbent upon employers to create a culture that encourages employees to both regularly take time off and fully unplug from their job while they’re away,” Jezior explained.

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The survey also finds:

• Forty-two percent of workers have not taken time off in the last 12 months, highest among younger workers (50 percent) and lower income employees (56 percent).
• Workers say the impediments to taking a fully unplugged vacation include the expense of taking a vacation (47 percent), self-imposed pressure to stay on top of work (31 percent), a heavy workload (27 percent), no paid time off (25 percent), and no colleagues available to cover their workload (25 percent).
• Many employees are not fully unplugging during time off. While 54 percent say they fully disconnect from work during vacation, 28 percent say they check work email and messages. Six percent say they continue to work during vacation.

The findings are based up a workforce survey from Eagle Hill Consulting conducted by Ipsos from August 11 – 16, 2022. The 2022 Eagle Hill Consulting Workforce Burnout Survey included 1000 respondents from a random sample of employees across the U.S and polled respondents about issues related to burnout and vacation.

Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Strategy & Performance, Talent, and Change. The company’s expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. A leading authority on employee sentiment, Eagle Hill is headquartered in the Washington, 

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