A recent survey of more than 3,000 US workers for employment search site FlexJobs found that almost a quarter didn’t take a vacation day during the past year and – more concerning to the study’s authors – as many as 82% “avoid using” their accrued time off. Why?
Kelsey Szamet, an employment lawyer, says the reason is a shift in mentality. “Many employees are concerned about the security of their jobs,” she told Quartz. “The adoption of AI and automation technologies has allowed employees to actually consider their own replaceability before requesting a leave or a holiday, or any kind of time-off benefit.”
