As American workers are bombarded with news about a possible recession and a slowing economy, many are trying to do more with less and protect their job by turning down vacation time, says a recent survey.

Out of 1,100 workers surveyed, more than half (51 percent) said they plan to skip summer vacation this year and save money instead, according to the Yahoo! HotJobs' second annual summer vacation survey.

The survey also reports that 35 percent of respondents say they feel constant pressure to improve performance, 44 percent say they have a heavier workload than the previous year, 38 percent are looking for a new job, 35 percent are updating their resume and 57 percent are feeling burnt out.

Saying no to summer fun could affect employees' productivity and even their health, says Kristen Gerencer, a reporter for MarketWatch, a business news Web site and subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company.

"The frequency of annual vacations was associated with a reduced risk of death in middle-aged men at high risk of heart disease, according to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine in 2000," Gerencer reports. She cites another study that found that psychological health suffers in women ages 25 to 75 who don't take a break from work at least once a year. 

Are your employees taking vacations this summer? Weigh in, on this week's E-Poll.

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

 


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