Quiet vacationing is on the rise, but should you do it this summer?
Summer is here, and that means you’re either really looking forward to that trip you planned months in advance, or trying to figure out how you can sneak in a few days of annual leave during the next couple of months.
With savvier employees block-booking their days off as soon as New Year hits, it can sometimes be hard to get a decent run of days off during the summer, especially when you take other colleagues’ cover into account, and the fact that the work still needs to be done… by someone.
Lots of Brits do plan to head away this summer regardless, with one survey finding that one in three will holiday at home this year, and 20 per cent say they plan to spend more money on travelling in 2024.
Despite this, there are a lot of unused annual leave days accruing across the UK. A recent survey compiled using Censuswide data identified under 40 per cent of UK workers took all of their annual leave allowance in 2022 and 2023.
More than 60 per cent didn’t take all of their holiday allowance in the same period, which adds up to more than 18m of the UK’s total workforce of 29.7m. That’s a lot of people not taking the holiday time they are entitled to – and getting a break from work matters.
Study after study shows that workers need time away from their jobs for a myriad of reasons. A 2024 report from Mental Health UK found that factors causing stress and contributing to burnout include a high or increased workload or volume of tasks (54 per cent), working unpaid overtime beyond contracted hours (45 per cent), and feeling isolated at work (42 per cent).
It all adds up to an environment where UK workers really could do with a summer break. Given all of the above, is there another way to go about it?
3 open roles in finance and fintech
- Financial Services, Banking & Capital Markets, Tax Manager, Pwc UK, London
- Vice President Sales iSW Digital Distribution UK, BlackRock, London
- Enterprise Account Executive, Plaid, London
Ssshh: hush trips on the rise
A new trend is emerging this year. It’s already well-known that workers get less done in the summer, with a study finding that summer causes a 20 per cent drop in productivity on average. The research also found that projects take 13 per cent longer to complete than in colder months.
With late holiday requests being more likely to be declined, “quiet vacationing” is emerging as a trend that’s all about taking hush trips, or heading off on a break without telling your manager or HR department.
It can be enabled by remote or hybrid working, where you may only need to be in the office one or two days a week, meaning your absence is less likely to be noticed. If you’re remote, then you’re even more likely to get away with a quiet vacation.
According to a report from Resume Builder, about 10 per cent of workers have taken a quiet vacation in the past year. This taps into a wider trend where about 60 per cent of workers already say they maintain the façade that they are working a full day by doing things like answering emails, responding to messages, taking phone calls and attending virtual meetings––and doing their own thing in between.
3 more jobs to discover this week
- Territory Account Executive – FinTech, Salesforce, London
- AI – Data Scientist, Senior Associate, PwC, Manchester
- Senior ICT / Cyber Security Engineer, Honeywell, Didsbury
Flexible policies matter
Hush trips or quiet vacations can also be seen as workers thumbing one’s nose to a management culture that values overwork and presenteeism.
Other workers may take these sorts of unapproved breaks as they want to seem productive and not in need of downtime. Still more may be fearful of redundancy––they don’t want to give their employers any extra ammunition to get rid of them.
It will be clear to most employees that it’s far better to be upfront and honest with their bosses about their holiday entitlements, scheduling proper breaks and being able to be genuinely offline, with no fear of a surprise meeting interrupting their beach time.
Really, what most workers want is flexibility: whether that’s in terms of being able to choose their own days to be in the office, having the ability to take advantage of “summer Fridays” where they can log off when they have completed their tasks, being able to start work later or finish earlier when kids are off school, or having longer lead times on project deliverables.
These are all ways that companies can make summer work harder for their teams, helping to boost morale and reduce stress – and encourage uptake of PTO.
Check out the Alternative Credit Investor Job Board, which has thousands more live openings
Article written by Kirstie McDermott at Amply
