Remember when vacation meant no work? Those days, it seems, are long gone. Our latest research paints a complex picture of how the lines between work and leisure time are blurring, with significant implications for employee engagement, well-being, and organizational health.
We surveyed nearly 3,000 employees, studying everything from how much vacation time they get to how they actually use it (or don't). What we found is a scenario where work stubbornly clings to us, even when we're supposed to be lounging on a beach or exploring a new city.
The Rise of the Workcationer: A New Vacation Persona
Our study identified three distinct types of vacationers, and two of them aren't really on vacation at all:
- Planned Workationers (29%): This group intentionally plans to work during their vacation. They bring their devices and keep notifications on, essentially extending their office into their vacation space. People leaders are 1.5x more likely to fall into this category, suggesting that those in management positions feel a greater need to stay connected even during their time off. This behavior may stem from a sense of responsibility or a fear of falling behind, but it raises questions about the effectiveness of their vacation time and the example they're setting for their teams.
- Unplanned Workationers (43%): These employees start their vacations with the intention to disconnect but end up working anyway. They might leave devices behind or turn off notifications, but still respond to messages and check in regularly. Senior managers and younger workers are more likely to be in this group. This category is particularly concerning as it represents a failure of boundaries and potentially indicates a work culture that doesn't truly support time off. The fact that younger workers are overrepresented in this group suggests that early career pressures or generational attitudes toward work may be influencing this behavior.
- True Vacationers (28%): This group successfully disconnects, leaving devices behind and not responding to work messages. Older employees and those without direct management responsibilities are more likely to be True Vacationers. While it's encouraging that some employees can fully disconnect, the fact that this group is the smallest is troubling. It suggests that true vacation time is becoming the exception rather than the norm, with long-term implications for employee engagement.
This classification provides a framework for understanding how different employees approach vacation time and can offer insights into where interventions might be most effective. For instance, organizations might focus on helping Unplanned Workationers set better boundaries, while also addressing the cultural factors that lead Planned Workationers to feel they need to work during their time off.
The Impact of Workcationing: A Hidden Threat to Employee Well-being
Working on vacation isn't just a modern inconvenience, another annoyance that comes with the many benefits of the digital age — our research shows it is actually detrimental to people in many ways:
- Lower well-being and increased burnout: Both Planned and Unplanned Workationers report lower well-being and more signs of burnout than True Vacationers. This finding challenges the notion that staying connected during vacation helps reduce stress or anxiety about work piling up. Instead, it suggests that the inability to fully disconnect is taking a toll on employee mental health.
- Negative spillover into personal life: Unplanned Workationers are 1.5x more likely than Planned Workationers and nearly twice as likely as True Vacationers to say work stress causes them to behave poorly with friends and family or engage in unhealthy coping behaviors. This spillover effect indicates that the impact of workcationing extends beyond the individual employee, potentially affecting their relationships and overall quality of life.
- Increased illness: Unplanned Workationers are 1.5x more likely than True Vacationers to have taken more than a week of sick days in a year. This suggests a direct link between the inability to disconnect during vacation and physical health, pointing to potential long-term costs for both employees and organizations in terms of healthcare expenses and lost productivity.
The real kicker? It’s often the most engaged employees who are working on vacation. It is probably true that they want to be helpful and productive, even when they are supposed to be away. However, the detrimental effects of failing to disconnect will eventually take their toll on the employee and the organization.
While these employees do currently show high levels of engagement, the gradual erosion of their well-being could lead to decreased productivity, increased turnover, or other negative outcomes in the long term. Organizations need to recognize that true vacation time is not a luxury, but a necessity for maintaining a healthy, productive workforce.
Root Causes: Why Employees Can't Disconnect
So what's keeping us tethered to our jobs even on the beach? Our research indicates a few things that are consistently getting in the way:
- Manager behavior: Planned Workationers are almost twice as likely as True Vacationers to say their manager checks email or messages while on vacation. This finding highlights the critical role that leaders play in setting the tone for vacation behavior. When managers work during their time off, it sends a powerful message to their teams that this behavior is expected or even required. Organizations looking to promote healthier vacation habits need to start by addressing leadership behavior and expectations.
- Pressure of work: Workationers are 1.6x more likely than True Vacationers to feel nervous asking for time off due to busy workloads. This statistic points to underlying issues of workload management and staffing. If employees feel that taking time off will result in an unmanageable backlog of work or let their team down, they're less likely to fully disconnect. Addressing this issue requires a holistic approach to workload distribution and coverage during employee absences.
- PTO policy: Our research found that while people with unlimited PTO may take more days off, they are twice as likely to work during that time, challenging the notion that unlimited PTO policies necessarily lead to better work-life balance. Instead, it suggests that without proper cultural support and clear expectations, these policies might actually increase the pressure to stay connected during vacation time.
Unlimited PTO policies are a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, organizations favor them because they eliminate accrued vacation days that must be paid out when an employee quits and the administration costs can be quite a bit lower. They are also a great recruiting tool. Employees also like knowing they have the option to create appropriate balance for themselves. However, in practice, there are often downsides. Absent the right messaging from the top, employees who are aware of this reality and eager to stay in their organization’s good graces might try to avoid being perceived as a company leader in PTO taken. Employees and managers alike may be confused about “the right amount” of PTO to take or think that not taking PTO will help them to get ahead in the organization.
Best Practices for Fostering True Disconnection
Based on what we found, here are some ways to help everyone actually enjoy their time off:
For Gen Z and Millennials:
- Set clear expectations (and follow them!): Establish and communicate clear guidelines about availability during vacation time. This could include designating specific "no contact" periods or setting up automated responses that redirect inquiries to other team members. But more importantly, it means actually abiding by the expectations you set.
- Promote digital detox: Encourage periods of complete disconnection from work devices. This could be incentivized through challenges or rewards for those who successfully unplug.
- Foster peer support: Create a culture where team members support each other's time off without guilt. This could include cross-training to ensure coverage and celebrating successful vacations as team accomplishments.
For Gen X:
- Lead by example: As many Gen Xers are now in leadership positions, encourage them to model true disconnection during vacations. This could include sharing stories of successful vacations and the benefits they experienced from fully unplugging.
- Provide robust coverage: Implement systems for comprehensive work coverage during vacations to ease concerns about falling behind. This might involve creating detailed handoff procedures or rotating responsibility for covering vacationing team members.
- Highlight the value of rest: Emphasize the benefits of full disconnection for creativity and problem-solving. Share research or case studies that demonstrate how time away from work can lead to increased productivity and innovation upon return.
For Baby Boomers:
- Encourage full usage of vacation time: Address any hesitancy to take all allocated vacation days. This could involve education about the importance of rest for long-term career sustainability.
- Promote new experiences: Encourage trying new activities or visiting destinations that require full engagement, making it easier to disconnect from work naturally.
- Emphasize health benefits: Highlight the positive health impacts of taking restful vacations, particularly important as this generation ages. This could include partnering with wellness programs to offer vacation planning resources.
For everyone:
- Preparation is key: Encourage thorough handoffs and preparation before vacations to reduce the need for check-ins. This could include creating standardized pre-vacation checklists.
- Address workload issues: Implement strategies to manage workload more effectively, reducing the pressure to work during vacation. This might involve periodic workload reviews or more flexible staffing models.
- Rethink unlimited PTO: If you have an unlimited PTO policy, make sure it's not backfiring. Set minimum vacation days that employees must take. Create a culture where taking time off is celebrated, not side-eyed. And most important of all, make it clear that vacation means vacation, not "working from a slightly nicer location."
- Track and encourage: Even with unlimited PTO, keep track of how much time off people are taking. If someone's not taking enough, have their manager encourage them to do so. Remember, a burnt-out employee is no good to anyone.
- The power of storytelling: Make "vacation stories" a regular part of team meetings. "So, Emily, tell us about that week you spent not thinking about work at all!"
It’s Time to Reclaim the True Vacation
Our data is clear: the work-free vacation is becoming as rare as a phone booth. The emergence of workcationing, particularly among younger generations and those in leadership positions, poses significant challenges to employee well-being and long-term organizational health.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Now that we know what's going on, we can fix it. It's about creating an environment where unplugging isn't just allowed, it's expected. Where "vacation mode" is a real thing, not just a setting on your email.
The trick is to tackle this from all angles — fix the policies, change the culture, and help individuals break the always-on habit. It's especially important for leaders to "walk the talk." If the boss is sending emails from the beach, no one else will feel safe putting up that out-of-office message.
Organizations that figure this out will have a real edge. In a world where burnout is becoming the norm, offering actual, work-free vacations could be the difference between retaining your best people and watching them burn out.
Perceptyx Can Help You Help Your People Disconnect
Want to dig deeper into this and other ways to improve the employee experience? Let's talk. Schedule a meeting with our Perceptyx team. Together, let's figure out the employee engagement solutions that will make work work better for everyone — including when they're not working. Because sometimes, the best thing you can do for your job is to forget about it for a while.