Empty Offices Over The Holidays

Things tend to slow down at work for a lot of people over the holiday week, which is why your office may look like a ghost town during some or all of Christmas week.

According to a new Robert Half survey, 64% of workers will take at least part of the Christmas week off, with one third taking the entire week, and only 18% planning to actually work the entire week. Of those who will be out the whole week, 61% say it’s because their company closes for the holiday, with 79% of them getting paid for that time off.

Not surprising, despite all the people taking off, most workers in the U.S. still won’t be using up all their vacation days by the time the new year begins. Overall, 35% of those polled say they'll leave over vacation time, with folks in New York City the most likely to use all of their vacation (80%), and those in Raleigh the least likely to use all their days (50%).

As for why they don’t take all their days, the most popular reason is that they’re saving their days for something later (43%), with Seattle the city most likely to use that excuse (61%). Other popular reasons include:

  • Too much work to do (21%), with folks in Chicago most likely to use that excuse (32%)
  • No money to go on vacation (15%), an excuse most used by those in Miami (28%)
  • Feel guilty about taking time off (9%), something those in Cincinnati feel the most (19%)
  • My boss discourages me from taking time off (3%), something folks in Phoenix deal with the most (12%).

Source: Robert Half