Taking Vacations Could Improve Your Salary And Productivity, Study Finds

Do you want to be more successful in your career? Then take more vacations. A new study published Thursday by “Project: Time Off” discovered that Americans who don’t take enough time off from their jobs and go for vacations are 78-84 percent less likely to be eligible for a bonus or a raise, compared to those who take reasonable time off from work.

GfK, Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (Society for Consumer Research), Germany's largest market research institute, conducted an online survey from Jan. 26 to Feb. 20, 2017, that included a sample of 7,331 American workers, above the age of 18 years, who put in 35 work hours a week and are also awarded paid time off. The study analyzed the data collected from GfK’s survey and concluded that 54 percent of the sample size did not use their vacation time in 2016. The country, on a whole, had a total of 662 million unused vacation days left at the end of 2016. Even of those who did not use their vacation days, 92 percent said vacations were important to them.

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“The biggest concern is workload, which is exacerbated by the fact that when you do take time off, you can see the work piling up in real-time on your phone,” said Katie Denis, senior director at “Project: Time Off” and author of the study. “Beyond workload, the primary reasons people are skipping vacation show that they are overwhelmed and anxious about the optics of getting away. They feel no one else can do the work, that the pressures of increased responsibility make it harder to leave or that vacation somehow compromises dedication.”

However, the study also found that in 2016, average vacation use increased to 16.8 days per worker as compared to 16.2 days in 2015. “The amount of time off earned by employees in 2016 increased by nearly a full day (.7 days) to 22.6 vacation days,” the study suggested. But, even with the increase in vacation use and time off earned by employees, Americans are leaving a slightly more amount of unused vacation days than earlier.

According to the study, the factor leading to this phenomenon could be being addicted to your work and as a result, taking less number of vacation days.

“[Some employees] identify so strongly with their work that they are compelled to work all the time,” said Marika Lindholm, a sociologist specializing in guiding people in taking better care of their health and well-being. “Increasing efficacy on the job provides feelings of self-worth that they don’t get anywhere else because they are working all the time and it becomes an addictive cycle. It’s up to employers to set the tone by encouraging employees to take time off and, of course, take time off themselves,” she added.

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The study concluded that taking less time off from work harms your career success and thus makes you 23-27 percent less likely to receive a promotion, compared to the ones who take their reasonable time off from work.

“At a certain point, our productivity and energy suffers,” Denis explained. “Work martyrs feel that they are sacrificing their vacation time in service to their jobs, but in reality, they are trading away opportunities to be better for their companies by skipping time off. Time off can be a fantastic way to incite innovation, and bringing the next great idea to your organization is hugely impactful. Great creative breakthroughs don’t happen sitting at a desk.”

Not using vacation days also deteriorates your health. “The mental and physical benefits of taking time off work include improved sleep, a better headspace, more clarity and increased creativity,” Dr. Kathryn Smerling, a psychologist in New York explained. “By taking time off, you’ll find a renewed sense of purpose, more energy to carry out tasks and in general, an overall sense of happiness.”