Instead of Using PTO, Some Workers Are Taking ‘Quiet Vacations’
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Here's your money briefing for Wednesday, July 17th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Instead of requesting time off, some workers are taking mini vacations while they're on the clock, under the guise of working remotely.
Oftentimes, too, people are not satisfied with the amount of PTO days that they get annually, and they want to reserve those PTO days for either medical emergencies or real robust vacations that are often international. And they use this strategy to take more vacations a year.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal reporter Sanvi Bangalore about quiet vacationing after the break.
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For many people, their summer getaway will be a quiet vacation. Wall Street Journal reporter Sanvi Bangalore joins me to explain. Sanvi, about how many vacation days do workers in the U.S. get on average?
U.S. private sector workers get, on average, 11 days of paid vacation after one year at an employer and 15 days after five, according to the Labor Department. And that's if they're lucky. One in five U.S. private sector workers get no paid time off.
What is a quiet vacation, and how does that differ from any other vacation?
What makes a quiet vacation distinctive is you're supposed to be working, essentially.
How is the 'quiet vacation' trend defined and introduced?
So it's kind of a blend of working and vacationing. People that are on a quiet vacation are often not as relaxed and don't have as much time to enjoy their vacation destination as someone who's vacationing.
So are they using vacation days to do this or not?
Oftentimes they don't tell their employer or their workplace that they're doing a quiet vacation. That's kind of what makes it a secret.
Hmm, that's kind of sneaky. Is this something new?
This is something on the newer side because as a lot of workplaces have created their remote work policies and made them more robust, and a lot more employees are able to work remotely, that makes it easier to make it look like you're working when you're really not.
Why do people feel the need to do this?
There are many complex reasons why people feel the need to take a quiet vacation. Oftentimes, it's because they don't want to fully plug off from work and they want to still be connected to their work even while they're on vacation because they don't want their employers or their bosses to perceive them as not hardworking, especially in a tough economic environment where they don't want to put that target on their back. and make themselves subject to layoffs or pay cuts or any of that. So people want to create the perception that they are a hardworking employee. And oftentimes, too, people are not satisfied with the amount of PTO days that they get annually, and they want to reserve those PTO days for either medical emergencies or real robust vacations that are often international.
And they use this quiet vacation strategy to take more vacations a year within the country or closer to their home or to take their kids to activities. So I think it's more just a way for people to claim back more of their free time while still meeting all of the goals they want to at work.
But still, we're in an era where work-life balance has become a prime concern for a lot of employees and their bosses. How does this fit into that?
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