--- title: A Huge Number of Millennials Can't Escape Work While on Vacation description: One-quarter of millennial workers say never actually take an entire day off. Ever. At some point every day during their "vacations," they work. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2015-07-06T15:41:00.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T06:09:19.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Benefits - Millennials - vacations - workaholic - Workplace word_count: 448 canonical: https://money.com/millennials-working-vacations/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![couple by the pool, woman on laptop](https://img.money.com/2015/07/150706_em_millworkonvacay2.jpg) You've probably heard about the disturbing trend of American workers not taking all of their allotted vacation days. More than [4 in 10 workers](https://money.com/japan-workers-vacation/) say they regularly do not use all of their days, and, on average, eight vacation days go unused. A recent [TIME cover story](https://time.com/3892635/vacation-charts/) on the disappearing American summer vacation also noted that each year, 169 million vacation days go unused and do not carry over. So they're just wasted. This week, the [*Boston Globe*](https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2015/07/05/take-your-vacation-you-know-what-good-for-you/LnhiYLeM8dtk9lXNSrumlI/story.html) called attention to the results of a survey conducted for [Alamo Rent a Car](https://www.alamo.com/en_US/car-rental/travel/unused-vacation-days.html), which indicates that even when Americans do take vacation days, to a disturbing degree they often aren't truly taking these days off from work. Not entirely anyway. The survey reports: > Thirty-five percent of millennials reported that they worked *every day* of their vacations, and felt less productive when they returned. That's right: More than one-third of millennial workers say never actually take an entire day off. Ever. At some point every day during their "vacations," they work. In [previous studies](https://money.com/unplug-disconnect-work-vacation-career-boss-email-phone/), six out of ten employees admitted that they've conducted some work on a recent vacation. But millennials appear to be the group most compelled to stay plugged in and productive each and every day, no matter if they're supposedly not working that week. We're not talking about the ["workcation" trend](http://www.wsj.com/articles/this-summer-how-about-taking-a-workcation-1435072989) covered recently by the *Wall Street Journal*, in which employees work remotely from a vacation destination. Instead, people—young people in particular—are working during times that are, on paper at least, full-fledged vacations. And as Deborah Good, a human resources management professor at the University of Pittsburgh, told the *WSJ*, there is a problem if employees are pressured into never truly disconnecting from work: “There may be a backlash among employees if they feel they must work all the time and can’t ever have a real vacation.” Taking a true break from work is essential for the mind, soul, and body. Research also shows that vacations can be good for your career. Despite millennials' concerns about feeling less productive after they get back to the office after a vacation, or other worries about what the boss might think if you're not reachable for, like five whole days, some studies indicate that increased vacation time is linked with [increased productivity](https://money.com/japan-workers-vacation/) at work. It makes sense. The point of a vacation, beyond the mere enjoyment, is to come away feeling refreshed, energized, and ready to take on new challenges at work—like trying to convince everybody in the office they need to take a vacation. **MORE:** [How to Disconnect from Work (Without Getting on the Boss’s Bad Side)](https://money.com/unplug-disconnect-work-vacation-career-boss-email-phone/) [Why America Should Follow Japan’s Lead on Forcing Workers to Take Vacation](https://money.com/japan-workers-vacation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-working-vacations/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Travel", "item": "https://money.com/travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A Huge Number of Millennials Can't Escape Work While on Vacation" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-working-vacations/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/millennials-working-vacations/", "name": "A Huge Number of Millennials Can't Escape Work While on Vacation", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-07-06T15:41:00.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-working-vacations/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/millennials-working-vacations/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T06:09:19.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "A Huge Number of Millennials Can't Escape Work While on Vacation", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/07/150706_em_millworkonvacay2.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1527, "caption": "150706_EM_MillWorkonVacay" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-07-06T15:41:00.000Z", "description": "One-quarter of millennial workers say never actually take an entire day off. 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