One way to know it’s been too long since you took a vacation is when you start looking like the person on your driving license. And according to a recent survey, that is exactly what is happening in India.
Expedia’s vacation based survey has discovered that India is the most vacation deprived country in the world, with Indian workers not utilising all of their vacation days and ending up being ranked behind Japan, Italy, Australia and New Zealand in this regard.
According to the report, 75% of Indians feel vacation deprived, which is the highest in the world followed by South Korea (72%) and Hong Kong (69%). The survey was conducted by Expedia, an online travel agency, which conducted the survey across 19 countries.
“We have seen an increase in support from Indian employers to take vacations. However, employees still do not avail their full vacation days because of reasons like missing out on important work decisions, fear of being seen less committed or finding it difficult to coordinate time with their travel companion. Our study also reflects that 18% Indians feel that those who are successful at their job don’t take vacation days,” said Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing Head, Brand Expedia in India.
Even after 78% bosses were supportive of vacations, Indians continue to get diverted by work while vacationing as 32% supervisors, 34% co-workers and 33% junior staff keep bothering them while on vacation.
Then there was also the guilt factor. When surveyed, India ranked 3rd in the list of countries where workers said they feel too guilty to take a vacation. The highest rank here was held by Japan, followed by Australia. On the other hand workers from countries like Mexico, Italy and Spain did not feel guilty about vacations and treated it as their right.
The study also looked into reasons as to why Indians don’t take enough leaves. Reasons varied from being expected to be available to their colleagues and supervisors to them checking their mails at least once a day. For 64% of Indians the impending workload after they come back from vacation was an important factor in deciding the length of their holiday.
On a positive note, the Indians surveyed did feel that vacations not only help them unwind but also make them more focused, relaxed, productive and motivated at work post their vacation. One of the leading reasons people don’t use their vacation time is because they’re saving them for a big trip which means they have a longer gap between vacations.
While it’s great to take longer vacations, small breaks in between can improve one’s quality of life, which is why we should also consider taking small breaks now and then to recharge.
First Published: Nov 28, 2018 16:06 IST
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