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Overworked (& Underpaid?): We Are The Most Vacation-Deprived Nation In The World

While 75 percent people feel they are vacation deprived, 41 percent have not taken a vacation in past six months

It seems most people in India follow the same routine throughout the year — go to work in the morning, complain about it, get tired, sleep, repeat. Wondering how we figured that out?

Well, a survey claims that Indians are the most vacation-deprived in the world. While 75 percent people feel they are vacation deprived, 41 percent have not taken any holiday to travel in the past six months because they could not get time off work.

This research, conducted on behalf of Expedia, by Northstar Research Partners considered 19 countries among 11,144 employed adults aged 18 and over. It was conducted online between September 19 and September 28, 2018, across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia-Pacific.

According to the annual Expedia 2018 Vacation Deprivation Report, Indian employees don’t take all vacation days. Indians are at the fifth place to leave their vacations unused after Japan, Italy, Australia, New Zealand.

“We have seen an increase in support from Indian employers to take vacations. However, employees still do not avail their full vacation days as they feel they are missing out on important work decisions, fear of being seen as less committed or finding it difficult to coordinate time with their travel companion. Our study also reflects that 18 percent of Indians feel that those who are successful at their job don’t take vacation days,” Expedia India marketing head Manmeet Ahluwalia said.

He also cited some reasons why Indians prefer not going on vacation. Around 64 percent don’t want impending workload just because they were on vacation.

Photo: Pixabay

“We dug deeper to understand reasons which are keeping Indians away from taking vacations and realised that they are the least likely to get a free pass while vacationing. They are expected to be available to their colleagues and supervisors, making 34 percent Indians check their mails at least once per day,” he added.

Another reason is that the Indians don’t take vacations because they’re saving them for a big trip.

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“Not surprised to know that 17 percent of Indians have not taken any leave from past one year. These figures throw light on various factors resulting in making India the most vacation deprived nation in the world,” he added.

However, around 55 percent of Indians think that vacation deprivation affects their productivity.