U.S. employees are using their vacation time more than they have in over a decade, according to a July 28 report from The Wall Street Journal. This comes after a slump in recent years due to the pandemic and fears of a recession.
The news outlet cited data from Gusto — an HR technology firm that tracks time-off requests from employees at more than 300,000 small and midsize businesses — that showed the number of U.S. employees logging vacation days is up 11 percent compared to last June. Americans are also taking longer vacations, with an average time off request of 32 hours, up 5 percent from last year. Federal data from the Labor Department also reflects the trend, with the monthly average of employees taking vacation from January through June topping 2.6 million, the highest since 2017.
Executives are also taking longer vacations, according to survey data from executive search firm Korn Ferry. Findings from a July survey cited by the Journal found 53 percent said they planned to take a longer vacation this summer than in the past. Half of respondents, however, indicated they don't fully leave work behind: They said they connect with work at least once a day.