Do you ever have any extra vacation days lying around at the end of the year just waiting to be forfeited?
It may sound a little odd – who doesn’t use all their vacation time? Well, according to a recent report by Project: Time Off, that number is probably higher than you think.
In 2016, about 54 percent of Americans left vacation time on the table for a total of 662 million unused vacations days, according to The State of American Vacation 2017 report. That’s more than 1.8 million years or 18,000 centuries of unused vacation.
The reasons that employees leave so many days behind ranges from feeling like no else can do the work, to fearing that taking a vacation makes them appear less dedicated, according to the report. Nearly half of Americans surveyed for the report said they feared returning to a mountain of work and a third said taking time off is harder as you advance in a company.
According to a recent Forbes article, vacation time is so severely underutilized that the American vacation is being systematically hijacked. The article, which cited research from a Kimble Applications survey on vacation, boiled the issue down to say that essentially, Americans are becoming “vacation-phobic.”
Luckily, Diamond Resorts is here to help you commit to taking vacations. We love getting a break from the daily grind and think you should, too. It can be easy to get caught up in the day to day, bogged down by responsibilities. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Diamond members know that, and they know the benefits regular vacations have on their personal and professional lives.
A Diamond Resorts membership is a promise to take regular breaks and a commitment to reconnecting with what matters most in life. Most importantly, a Diamond membership is a guaranteed vacation. Whether returning to a favorite resort, planning a month abroad or looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Diamond helps members make the most of their vacation time.
Because really, who wants to waste their vacation time?
According to The State of American Vacation 2017 report, by not using their vacation days, Americans effectively donated an average of about $604 in work time to their employer. The unused vacation time also costs the U.S. economy due to lost spending. Project: Time Off estimated unused vacation time cost the economy $236 billion in 2016. That amount could have supported about 1.8 million American jobs, the report states.
Plus, the report found that work martyrs – a close cousin of the workaholic – aren’t successful.
So really, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be using those vacation days.
Diamond Resorts gets it, and can help. Our members get it, and definitely enjoy their time away from the day-to-day. What are you waiting for?
