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Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
54% of American workers are logging in during vacations: Is rest now a luxury Silicon Valley can no longer afford?
(Representational image: iStock) Your eyes are watching the picturesque, serene beaches, the sun is perfectly warm, and the calendar says "on leave." Yes, that is what we all crave. With memes and reels flooding our feeds about vacation days and fake sick leaves, we know this is the kind of rest we all yearn for, and deserve the most. Far from the humdrum and hustle of the cubicle, we find some time for ourselves. However, for Americans, the picture is not rosy. It is blotted with overwork and the guilt of taking leave. They are not reading novels or building sandcastles. They're answering emails between bites of breakfast, jumping on 'just one quick call' before lunch, and checking Slack notifications from their hotel beds. Numbers nod an emphatic yes. According to a recent survey by the Movchan Agency, 54% of US workers admit to working during vacations, while 50% feel guilty for taking time off. At a time when the world is on its way to lionize work-life balance, America's line between ambition and addiction to work seems to be eroding. Vacation is just name-sake The reality of vacation for numerous workers today is not about relaxation but relocation. The scenery changes, but the screen time doesn't. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Dream Home Just Off Mumbai-Pune Expressway L&T Panvel Enquire Now Undo From frontline workers to mid-level managers, the inability to disconnect cuts across sectors. Many Americans, even when they have applied for paid leave, continue to engage with work tasks, sometimes voluntarily, often because they must. Some cite concerns over falling behind. Others are apprehensive that taking leave will make them less committed. For a significant cohort, there is a deep-seated discomfort with the idea of completely logging off. This phenomenon has found a seat in multiple surveys brimming with paradox: Vacation is offered, but not culturally supported. In some organisations, being unavailable, even temporarily, is quietly judged. When rest comes with guilt The 54% figure is not just about behaviour, it is about a nurtured mindset. The Movchan Agency survey also found that half of all workers feel guilty when taking time off. This guilt often stems from workplace dynamics that often applaud those who trade their sleep and sanity for work. The result is a kind of 'performative vacation'—where workers post photos of beaches and forests, but continue to monitor their inboxes, just in case. Time off, instead of a mental reset, becomes a backdrop for ongoing labor. The consequences of constant connection The inability to disconnect is not without repercussions. Numerous studies in occupational psychology have linked poor detachment from work with surge in burnout, diminished productivity, emotional fatigue, and long-term stress. Psychological detachment, the ability to mentally disengage from work during non-working hours, is recognized as essential for recovery. Without it, rest loses its restorative power. When vacations are filled with alerts, updates, and low-grade anxiety, they offer little more than a change in geography. A systemic challenge Unlike numerous developed nations, the US does not have a mandate for paid vacations at the federal level. Even when leaves are listed on the official calendar, the cultural environment around taking can be complicated. In some cases, workers report that taking leave leads to latent penalties: Missed opportunities, slowed advancement, or cold shoulders. The bigger question The question that prevails is: If half of the workforce cannot disconnect, even when officially off the clock, then what does that say about how we value labour, and by extension, people? It is no longer about who can take a vacation, but whether their hearts will allow them to rest. If taking time off has become a reward rather than a right, the workplace is not just exhausting, it is unsustainable. Reclaiming the right to log off The solution cannot be urging workers to 'switch off' on an official email. Rest must be actively safeguarded by policies, by leadership examples, and by a cultural shift that enshrines boundaries. Until then, vacations will remain what they have quietly become for millions of Americans: A hopeful idea blurred by unread emails, ongoing obligations, and a gnawing sense that stepping away might cost more than it heals. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Yahoo
'Vacation guilt' is out. Here's how to actually tune out work and enjoy your PTO.
"Vacation guilt" is common among American workers, with many feeling guilty about taking PTO. Some workers are concerned about job security or about others having to pick up their slack. Planning, supporting coworkers, and micro-unplugging can help ease vacation guilt, a therapist said. Have you ever been sitting poolside, sipping on a cocktail in a tropical destination, only to be abruptly interrupted by nagging worry that you weren't in this week's team check-in? "Vacation guilt" is a common occurrence among American workers, many of whom say they can't help but feel guilty when they're on vacation. A 2024 survey of more than 2,000 employed adults conducted by the communications firm Movchan Agency found nearly half of workers feel guilty while on vacation, while 63% feel anxious if they don't check their work-related messages during a trip. But there's a growing movement to embrace PTO and throw vacation guilt to the curb: The "loud vacationing" trend, increased awareness about burnout, and Gen Zers fearlessly embracing mental health days. And there's hope for those who are using paid time off to unwind, but struggle to unplug, according to Dennis Dearie, a licensed therapist at Healthy Life Recovery in San Diego. "If a person has problems with taking vacations, that's just one symptom of a bigger challenge they have," Dearie told Business Insider, adding that there are plenty of reasons a worker might feel guilty about taking vacation. Employees might have valid concerns about job security: They might feel that if someone else picks up their responsibilities while they're out, they'll be seen as dispensable or not good at their job. Others might struggle with giving up control over their work, if someone else has to step in when they're out. Dearie said some employees genuinely feel guilty that their time out of the office will burden their coworkers who pick up their slack. They might also work somewhere with a company culture that discourages time off, leading to feelings of guilt among those who do take vacation anyway. It's important to figure out what the cause of the vacation guilt is because that will help determine how to address it. For people who grind at work, being mindful about why they are struggling to unplug could be the first challenge. "They have to stop working and think about stuff that they probably don't think about," Dearie said. He said many people who focus a lot on work tend to derive a lot of value from it. Work gives them a sense of purpose and a sense of accomplishment, but focusing on work can mean other values suffer, like spending quality time with your kids or partner. It can help to take an honest look at your values and compare them to how you spend your time, Dearie said, adding you should ask yourself, "Why is unplugging valuable to me?" If you are struggling not to feel guilty on vacation because of all the work that's on your plate, Dearie said it's important to plan ahead and inform your team as early as possible when you will be out. Delegate everything that needs to be done while you are gone and leave thoughtful instructions. Let clients know who they can contact at the company while you're on PTO, so you are not anxious about whether they are expecting a response from you. If taking a guilt-free vacation is challenging for you, be supportive and enthusiastic when your team members take time off, Dearie said. Offer to take work off their plates when they are on vacation, or ask how you can help them feel confident taking time off. Helping your colleagues take time off can foster a feeling on your team that everyone is chipping in and doing their share to encourage PTO, and it can also get you an ally when you want to take time off. "You're helping the culture in your company adjust," he said, adding that you can shift company culture, at least on your team, and help set the precedence that taking time off is OK. Regardless of why you're struggling to take time off, Dearie said "micro-unplugging" — or tuning out from work for short periods of time — can help you get better at it for longer stretches of PTO, too. "Everything we do is training our brain," Dearie said, adding that our brains can learn to tolerate new things, like tuning out from work, with practice. If you especially struggle to unplug, Dearie said you could start by taking a single day off in the middle of the week. Plan ahead and let your coworkers know what to do in your absence or how reachable you are. Maybe refrain from checking your work messages all day, or checking them only twice that day, or even once per hour, depending on how difficult unplugging for you is. The goal is simply to unplug for longer than you normally do, Dearie said. You can build up that tolerance over time. "It's like a vacation, but not a vacation, and it's uncomfortable. It's going to produce anxiety," Dearie said. Micro-unplugging can help bridge the gap between what a person believes — that taking time away from work is good for them — and how their brain actually responds. "They believe it's true, but it doesn't feel true," Dearie said of taking time off. "When they do these behaviors, their brain can catch up with that truth." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
21-06-2025
- Business Insider
'Vacation guilt' is out. Here's how to actually tune out work and enjoy your PTO.
Have you ever been sitting poolside, sipping on a cocktail in a tropical destination, only to be abruptly interrupted by nagging worry that you weren't in this week's team check-in? "Vacation guilt" is a common occurrence among American workers, many of whom say they can't help but feel guilty when they're on vacation. A 2024 survey of more than 2,000 employed adults conducted by the communications firm Movchan Agency found nearly half of workers feel guilty while on vacation, while 63% feel anxious if they don't check their work-related messages during a trip. But there's a growing movement to embrace PTO and throw vacation guilt to the curb: The " loud vacationing" trend, increased awareness about burnout, and Gen Zers fearlessly embracing mental health days. And there's hope for those who are using paid time off to unwind, but struggle to unplug, according to Dennis Dearie, a licensed therapist at Healthy Life Recovery in San Diego. "If a person has problems with taking vacations, that's just one symptom of a bigger challenge they have," Dearie told Business Insider, adding that there are plenty of reasons a worker might feel guilty about taking vacation. Employees might have valid concerns about job security: They might feel that if someone else picks up their responsibilities while they're out, they'll be seen as dispensable or not good at their job. Others might struggle with giving up control over their work, if someone else has to step in when they're out. Dearie said some employees genuinely feel guilty that their time out of the office will burden their coworkers who pick up their slack. They might also work somewhere with a company culture that discourages time off, leading to feelings of guilt among those who do take vacation anyway. It's important to figure out what the cause of the vacation guilt is because that will help determine how to address it. Be mindful and take a look at your values For people who grind at work, being mindful about why they are struggling to unplug could be the first challenge. "They have to stop working and think about stuff that they probably don't think about," Dearie said. He said many people who focus a lot on work tend to derive a lot of value from it. Work gives them a sense of purpose and a sense of accomplishment, but focusing on work can mean other values suffer, like spending quality time with your kids or partner. It can help to take an honest look at your values and compare them to how you spend your time, Dearie said, adding you should ask yourself, "Why is unplugging valuable to me?" Plan and delegate If you are struggling not to feel guilty on vacation because of all the work that's on your plate, Dearie said it's important to plan ahead and inform your team as early as possible when you will be out. Delegate everything that needs to be done while you are gone and leave thoughtful instructions. Let clients know who they can contact at the company while you're on PTO, so you are not anxious about whether they are expecting a response from you. Support your coworkers when they take PTO If taking a guilt-free vacation is challenging for you, be supportive and enthusiastic when your team members take time off, Dearie said. Offer to take work off their plates when they are on vacation, or ask how you can help them feel confident taking time off. Helping your colleagues take time off can foster a feeling on your team that everyone is chipping in and doing their share to encourage PTO, and it can also get you an ally when you want to take time off. "You're helping the culture in your company adjust," he said, adding that you can shift company culture, at least on your team, and help set the precedence that taking time off is OK. Practice with micro-unplugging Regardless of why you're struggling to take time off, Dearie said "micro-unplugging" — or tuning out from work for short periods of time — can help you get better at it for longer stretches of PTO, too. "Everything we do is training our brain," Dearie said, adding that our brains can learn to tolerate new things, like tuning out from work, with practice. If you especially struggle to unplug, Dearie said you could start by taking a single day off in the middle of the week. Plan ahead and let your coworkers know what to do in your absence or how reachable you are. Maybe refrain from checking your work messages all day, or checking them only twice that day, or even once per hour, depending on how difficult unplugging for you is. The goal is simply to unplug for longer than you normally do, Dearie said. You can build up that tolerance over time. "It's like a vacation, but not a vacation, and it's uncomfortable. It's going to produce anxiety," Dearie said. Micro-unplugging can help bridge the gap between what a person believes — that taking time away from work is good for them — and how their brain actually responds. "They believe it's true, but it doesn't feel true," Dearie said of taking time off. "When they do these behaviors, their brain can catch up with that truth."
Forbes
14-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
What's Holding Back Working Women? Same Obstacles, More Anxiety
'Net worth', 'husband', and 'LinkedIn': a recent study found that these three terms were the most common Google searches regarding female CEOs. In fact, queries about a female CEO's spouse and family were 216% and 130% more common, respectively, than those same queries for a male CEO. In contrast, searches for a male CEO's salary and education were 169% and 61% more common, respectively, than those same searchers for a female CEO. The study, conducted by the Movchan Agency, thus concluded that individual searchers, on average, cared more about male CEO's professional traits (such as education and compensation) and about female CEO's personal characteristics (such as husbands and families). But these gender biases don't apply only to female CEOs. From hiring to promoting to mentoring, working women have faced - and continue to face - headwinds that their male peers don't necessarily experience. While many of these challenges have existed for years, women recently have also internalized new levels of uncertainty which leads to additional mental distress and which only complicates their ability to push forward in their workplaces. Parenthood, while not the only cause of a gender division in the workforce, is one of the most significant, obvious, and age-old. As of 2020, the United States was one of only three countries in the world not to offer statutory paid maternity leave, according to analysis by the International Labour Organization. The U.S Department of Labour additionally found that only 17% of women actually have access to this paid leave. (The Family and Medical Leave Act - or FMLA - guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave for new parents, but it doesn't actually require employers nationwide to provide paid leave; that choice is left to individual states, cities, and even companies.) After childbirth, mothers and fathers continue to see deviating career paths. Understanding Society, the largest longitudinal household panel study of its kind, focused on the U.K. and found that, three years after childbirth, 90% of new fathers were in full-time work or self-employment compared to 27.8% of new mothers. In the five years following childbirth, 26% of fathers had been promoted or had moved to a better job compared to only 13% of mothers. By that time, 4% of fathers had left employment completely compared to 17% of mothers. According to Deloitte's Women @ Work 2024 report, 50% of women who live with a partner and children additionally bear the most responsibility for caregiving, and nearly 60% of women bear the most responsibility for providing care to another adult (such as a parent or in-law). But there are other and often less obvious challenges beyond family-planning, family-starting, and caregiving that hinder women's professional careers. Hiring: A 2024 study by the Muse job board revealed that 41% of women have felt discriminated against based on their gender during a job interview, and 42% said they had encountered gender-biased or inappropriate questions during an interview. 38% of women have hesitated even to apply for a job due to perceived gender bias. That gender bias continues after a woman is hired. Once in the workforce, 82% of American women 'code-switch' – or adjust their appearances, behaviors, expressions, mannerisms, and/or style of speech. 76% of respondents in a recent Preply survey shared that they code-switch to 'be more professional in general' while about 17% have been told to change their tone or communication style at work. That is, they have been ordered to code-switch. Code-switching is especially prominent for Black women – as are the adverse consequences of not doing so. Mental Health: Like hiring and code-switching, mental health has been an issue that affects women disproportionately. Women, after all, are about two times more likely to have depression and/or anxiety than men are. But Deloitte's Women @ Work 2024 report found that mental health among working women specifically has deteriorated year over year. 50% of its 1,000 survey respondents reported that their stress levels are higher now than they were a year ago: a number that increases to 60% for ethnic minorities. Mental health is now one of working women's top concerns, second only to women's rights, and 33% of respondents have taken time off in the past year because of their mental health. And yet, 66% of those same respondents revealed they're not comfortable revealing mental health as a reason for their absence. Unsurprisingly, like women who are primarily responsible for caregiving, women who regularly work overtime rate their mental wellbeing and other aspects of their lives lower than women who don't work overtime or who share caregiving responsibilities, respectively. Mentorship: Regardless of whether they're working overtime, providing care, or neither, professional women in general don't usually have other women as resources or guides. HiBob's 4th annual U.S. Women Professionals in the Workplace survey found that only 7% of women reported having a formal mentor at work compared to 15% of men. (Ironically, 12% of women expressed a desire for a mentor while only 9% of men said the same.) Similarly, the Muse job board survey found that 55% of its respondents felt as though there wasn't enough female representation in their organization's leadership. 79% of women added that, when looking for a new job, they are more likely to seek out companies that have equal representation of men and women in managerial/leadership positions than companies with fewer women than men in those roles. In short, although working women are looking for it, female representation - and, thus, mentorship - is lacking. Pain: The lack of female leadership can have consequences beyond just mentorship; it can also affect policies that, in turn, help an upcoming group of women rise and succeed. One of those potential policies is around menstrual health. Deloitte's research reveals that more than 40% of women who experience high levels of pain during menstruation simply work through it. 16% of Deloitte's survey respondents have taken time off due to menstruation or menopause but haven't shared their reason for that absence with their employer, 13% reported that they don't feel comfortable discussing menstruation's impact on them with their manager, and 9% said they cited menstruation as the reason for taking time off and their career was adversely affected. 6% also reported that they had previously discussed menstruation's impact on them, and their employer's lack of support actually was a factor in their subsequent decisions to leave their entire organization entirely. Women who are experiencing or who are approaching menopause, meanwhile, compose about 20% of the current workforce, In 2024, 39% said they've experienced pain or discomfort at work due to menopause: more than double the percent who said the same the prior year. The number of U.S companies offering menopause-specific benefits, though, is only about 5%. Multiple studies have shown that women in government leadership positions implement policies that are supportive of women and children alike, such as contraception access and menstrual health policies. The same can be true for the private sector - but only 40% of managers, 29% of C-suite executives, and 10.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs were female as of 2024. Performance & Promotion: Even if women are able to show up and perform well in their workplaces, their confidence around their performance remains lower than men's. Hibob's Women Professionals research found that 65% of women strongly agreed they regularly do a good job compared to 69% of men, 56% of women believe their managers and coworkers value their work compared to 60% of men, and 51% of women believe their coworkers value their contributions compared to 58% of men. Even if women do have both the skills and confidence, McKinsey & Company's 'Women in the Workplace 2024' report noted that 81 women were promoted for every 100 men last year. That reality doesn't escape women's notice either; the Muse job board study revealed that 66% of respondents believe women in their industry have a 'hard time getting promoted'. Merit-based reward systems actually increase these gender inequalities – not decrease them. Multiple studies, in healthcare and other industries, have uncovered this 'paradox of meritocracy'. One study in particular had 445 M.B.A. students assume the role of a manager. The 'managers' who were told that they were in a company that emphasized meritocracy awarded male employees, on average, a $46 higher bonus than they gave to equally-performing female employees. On the contrary, those who were told that they were in a company that emphasized managerial discretion awarded female employees, on average, a $51 higher bonus than they gave to equally-performing male employees. Based on these results, the study authors speculated that the second group of 'managers' may have been trying to over-correct; that is, to make up for the bias against women they believed would exist when rewards are dependent only upon managerial discretion. Looking Forward These challenges – across hiring, mental health, mentorship, pain, performance, and promotion – have remained the same for women year after year. The significant and recent political changes though have added a new layer of uncertainty and subsequent stress for working women. For example, in a 'Women in the Workplace' survey from Fairygodboss, 79% of the 428 female respondents believe that the removal of DEI initiatives will negatively affect opportunities for women in the workplace. 52% are concerned about job security or new job opportunities because of the changes (such as funding cuts and policy changes) by the federal government. Similarly, 50% reported that anxiety over the current political climate is influencing their own career plans while 40% said that anxiety is affecting their behavior at their current role. Hibob's Women Professionals research came to a similar conclusion: all-in-all, women have more anxiety around their futures than men do. Looking forward, 57% of women anticipated improvements in their work-life balance compared to 62% of men, 26% of women anticipated a promotion compared to 34% of men, 58% of women felt confident about financial recognition in the year ahead compared to 66% of men, and 5% of women anticipated worsening conditions compared to 4% of men. This list of gender-based challenges that working women face is not all inclusive. Rather, it means to illustrate that the same barriers continue to hold women back - and now women are also facing additional anxiety due to the federal politics around them. Like the rest of these obstacles, this stress affects women more than men. And even female CEOs are not completely immune from gender-based divisions in the workplace. As the Movchan Agency found, the public's interest is not in these leaders' accolades, their accomplishments, or even their successful navigation of gender biases in their professional worlds but rather, remains largely in their husbands.
