Asians “world’s most holiday-deprived workers”
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Asian workers are the world’s most holiday-deprived, taking fewer of their allocated annual days of leave than employees in other regions, a new report has revealed.
According to its ‘2015 Vacation Deprivation’ study, Expedia found that the average global number of paid vacation days available to workers is just under 25 days per year, in addition to public holidays. Collectively, workers take about 20 of them, leaving 20% unused.
But in Asia Pacific, fewer holidays are taken. South Koreans are the world’s most vacation deprived workers, taking only six of their allocated 15 days’ holiday, while Japanese workers take only 12 out of 20. Malaysians take 10 of 14, while Thai’s are only allocated an average of 10 days holiday a year, but take them all.
In Australia workers take 18 days off, while in New Zealand the average number of holidays taken is 15.
And Asian workers appear to be concerned that taking all their holidays will be perceived negatively by their employer. The global average for this fear is 7%, but it is most prevalent in South Korea (18%) and India (13%).
Europeans are the world’s least holiday-deprived, with workers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Finland all offered 30 days off. Of this total, Danish employees take 28 days’ holiday, while Italians take 25 and Swedes take 25.
The picture is different across the Americas, with Brazilians taking nearly all the 30 vacation days available to them, but North American workers taking only 11 of an available 15.
“We continue to find that Europe’s attitudes towards vacation are overall much different than North American and Asian attitudes,” said John Morrey, vice president and general manager of Expedia.com. “For some workers, vacation is a right, and for others, it’s a guilty pleasure. Some workers also fear that their bosses will disapprove.
“A healthy work-life balance is critical, not only to give workers a chance to enjoy their lives outside of the office, but also to recharge, making you more productive when you get back to work,” he added.
Globally, 15% of workers said that they would leave their jobs for one that offers more vacation time. However, 69% of workers would still choose a pay raise over more leave. India was the only country whose residents said they would choose more vacation time over higher remuneration, with 54% choosing time off and 46% choosing a raise.
And 51% of the world’s workers typically take their holidays in smaller, more regular chunks, versus 32% who take one long holiday.
The Expedia study surveyed 9,273 employed adults across 26 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas.
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