More Than Half of US Workers to Skip Summer Holidays: Poll
Agence France-Presse (France)

WASHINGTON -- More than half of Americans will not be taking a summer holiday this year, opting instead to stay home and save money as the US economy slumps, a survey published Wednesday showed.

"The economic downturn is leading to layoffs and stretched resources, which in turn leads to increased workloads and pressure to improve performance," said Tom Musbach, senior managing editor of Yahoo Hotjobs, which conducted the poll.

Fifty-one percent of the Internet giant's 1,100 respondents said in an online questionnaire that they would skip their annual summer holiday. That is a sizeable increase over 2007, when 45 percent went without a summer vacation.

"Employees, now more than ever, need a break from the pressure, but are instead choosing to forgo vacation in order to meet growing demands and protect dwindling wallets," Musbach said.

Forty-four percent of respondents said their workload is heavier today than last year, and 57 percent said they felt "burned out" -- up from 49 percent last year.

Key sources of stress for American workers are insufficient resources to get the job done, an excessive workload, a poor leadership structure, an US ailing economy, and "the boss," the survey showed.

Meanwhile, when Americans do take time off -- and many get only around two weeks' leave a year -- they don't necessarily use their free days to rest up, the study showed.

"Many respondents (41 percent) say they take time off for a 'mental health' day and 48 percent admit to using their time off to run personal errands," it said.