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By Karen Dybis / The Detroit News
If Ken Kelley looks a little more relaxed to his co-workers today, there's a good reason. The senior mortgage consultant will be returning from his first real vacation in 18 months.
Kelley's employer, Heartland Home Finance in Southfield, gives him vacation time, but he rarely takes time out from his go-go schedule of meeting clients and attending open houses.
"This business is very competitive. It means you have to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Kelley, who flew to Miami with some friends during the Memorial Day weekend. "Vacation days are few and far between."
Sound familiar? It should. Nearly half of full-time U.S. workers left vacation days unused last year, according to a study commissioned by Florida's Universal Orlando Resort.
And Metro Detroiters are among the worst vacation dodgers -- ranking fourth among major cities in average days off unused, the study found.
Perhaps it's the region's blue-collar mentality or a fear of taking a backward step in a brutal job market. Whatever the reasons, many in Metro Detroit will be punching in when they could be checking out for a few days of stress-free sun and sand.
Overall, U.S. workers are expected to give back 421 million vacation days this year, according to a study released this month by Harris Interactive and Expedia.com, a travel Web site.
America has become the anti-vacation nation, averaging 12 vacation days a year, compared with 27 for Germans and a mind-boggling 39 for the French.
And when we do take time off, we're often tethered to a cell phone or BlackBerry or laptop. The joke around the water cooler these days is nobody needs a vacation like somebody who just returned from one.
Michael Rajt, a lawyer at Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss PC in Detroit, says the line between work and vacation has blurred permanently, so he tries to make the best of it.
"The pace of business has quickened to the point where you can't walk away," Rajt said. "With technology, you can be reached just about anyplace so you don't have to make a choice between staying behind or canceling a vacation."
Rajt never goes on vacation without his laptop. He religiously checks his e-mail and voice mail whether he is in Florida during the winter or at his home in Gladwin County during the summer.
"Who wants to walk into their office Monday morning and find 900 e-mails waiting?" he said.
Many people worry about their overworked colleagues back at the office or fret that an important client will need attention.
But never turning the ringer off can take a toll.
"One of the least accepted practices in America today is the ancient practice of leisure," Kathleen Hall, a former "success junkie" and author of "Alter Your Life: Overbooked? Overworked? Overwhelmed?" "Americans have forgotten how to play and rest. Our bodies, minds and souls are depleted. They're exhausted."
Workers are taking shorter vacations, typically concentrating a single major vacation into one week. Often, workers forget about rest and relaxation and end up doing more mundane tasks like errands, cleaning, yard work or caring for an ill child.
Some companies are contributing to the vacation pinch.
One practice some businesses have adopted is to offer shorter vacation packages, especially to new hires. Recruiters say the recession largely eliminated extravagant paid time off programs. And many companies offer little vacation time and restrict when workers can take off.
"Companies need to get as much out of their people as possible," said Jeff Hawn, managing partner of the Columbus office of executive search firm Princeton Search Group. "Over the past three or four years, companies definitely have tightened up on their vacation policies. Companies that had programs to let people roll over vacation days into the next year are getting rid of them. A use-it-or-lose-it mentality has taken its place."
Another wrinkle in vacations comes from the auto industry's practice of shutting down plants and assembly lines for days and weeks. Suppliers and other small auto-related firms encourage employees to save vacation time and take those days during a shut-down, rather than be furloughed. While it restricts when workers can take off, it gives them the option of collecting vacation pay at their regular salary, rather than filing for unemployment benefits, which typically provide less money.
"It's encouraged industrywide," said Mandy Suwienski, human resources assistant with Eagle Industries of Wixom, a supplier of sound-absorbing foam for automotive applications.
"There's not anything written down in our employee handbook that says you must take vacation time during a shutdown," Suwienski added, "but I don't know any auto-industry company that doesn't encourage it."
Even with all these contractions, there are some employers who actually are increasing time off for employees.
• Bloomfield Hills-based Pulte Homes Inc. recently started giving its full-time employees an extra two paid days off for volunteering for organizations like Habitat for Humanity.
• Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing takes its Detroit staff on four-day, all-expenses-paid surprise trips yearly to locations like Amsterdam and Iceland.
• General Motors Corp. for the third year allowed salaried workers to purchase an additional three days of vacation for $175 per day. Executives pay $250 per day.
"We know that offering more days off is something employees really appreciate," said GM spokesman Robert Herta. It also helps the Detroit-based company reduce its payroll costs, he said.
Malcolm Hendricks, a mortgage specialist with Republic Bank in Bloomfield Hills, says he takes as many of the 35 paid vacation days his employer offers. Hendricks has won multiple awards as one of the bank's top performers.
"I need a break once in a while. I'll burn out if I don't," he said.
But for many, the summer sojourns or winter respites just don't seem possible.
Entrepreneurs like Karen and Cheryl Daskas, sisters who own the women's designer clothing and accessory boutique Tender in downtown Birmingham, fit that profile.
On the plus side, both say they love their work, and their sales have increased every year they have been in business. In fact, Italian Vogue just named the store among the top U.S. boutiques in its March edition. However, they have sacrificed time for themselves to be at the store nearly every day.
Cheryl Daskas sold her racing boat a few years back after it sat unused for more than a year.
"In 12 years, we've only had three real vacations. My sister and I work seven days a week," Karen Daskas said. "Weddings, bar mitzvahs, baby showers. We miss most of them."
Their last long vacation was more than three years ago to the south of Spain.
"At the end of the day, we're running a business and we're responsible. People's livelihoods depend on us," Karen Daskas said. "We have bills to pay."
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Metro Detroiters, facing growing job pressures,
skip more of their vacation days.
May 31, 2005
By Karen Dybis / The Detroit News
If Ken Kelley looks a little more relaxed to his co-workers today, there's a good reason. The senior mortgage consultant will be returning from his first real vacation in 18 months.
Kelley's employer, Heartland Home Finance in Southfield, gives him vacation time, but he rarely takes time out from his go-go schedule of meeting clients and attending open houses.
"This business is very competitive. It means you have to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Kelley, who flew to Miami with some friends during the Memorial Day weekend. "Vacation days are few and far between."
Sound familiar? It should. Nearly half of full-time U.S. workers left vacation days unused last year, according to a study commissioned by Florida's Universal Orlando Resort.
And Metro Detroiters are among the worst vacation dodgers -- ranking fourth among major cities in average days off unused, the study found.
Perhaps it's the region's blue-collar mentality or a fear of taking a backward step in a brutal job market. Whatever the reasons, many in Metro Detroit will be punching in when they could be checking out for a few days of stress-free sun and sand.
Overall, U.S. workers are expected to give back 421 million vacation days this year, according to a study released this month by Harris Interactive and Expedia.com, a travel Web site.
America has become the anti-vacation nation, averaging 12 vacation days a year, compared with 27 for Germans and a mind-boggling 39 for the French.
And when we do take time off, we're often tethered to a cell phone or BlackBerry or laptop. The joke around the water cooler these days is nobody needs a vacation like somebody who just returned from one.
Michael Rajt, a lawyer at Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss PC in Detroit, says the line between work and vacation has blurred permanently, so he tries to make the best of it.
"The pace of business has quickened to the point where you can't walk away," Rajt said. "With technology, you can be reached just about anyplace so you don't have to make a choice between staying behind or canceling a vacation."
Rajt never goes on vacation without his laptop. He religiously checks his e-mail and voice mail whether he is in Florida during the winter or at his home in Gladwin County during the summer.
"Who wants to walk into their office Monday morning and find 900 e-mails waiting?" he said.
Many people worry about their overworked colleagues back at the office or fret that an important client will need attention.
But never turning the ringer off can take a toll.
"One of the least accepted practices in America today is the ancient practice of leisure," Kathleen Hall, a former "success junkie" and author of "Alter Your Life: Overbooked? Overworked? Overwhelmed?" "Americans have forgotten how to play and rest. Our bodies, minds and souls are depleted. They're exhausted."
Workers are taking shorter vacations, typically concentrating a single major vacation into one week. Often, workers forget about rest and relaxation and end up doing more mundane tasks like errands, cleaning, yard work or caring for an ill child.
Some companies are contributing to the vacation pinch.
One practice some businesses have adopted is to offer shorter vacation packages, especially to new hires. Recruiters say the recession largely eliminated extravagant paid time off programs. And many companies offer little vacation time and restrict when workers can take off.
"Companies need to get as much out of their people as possible," said Jeff Hawn, managing partner of the Columbus office of executive search firm Princeton Search Group. "Over the past three or four years, companies definitely have tightened up on their vacation policies. Companies that had programs to let people roll over vacation days into the next year are getting rid of them. A use-it-or-lose-it mentality has taken its place."
Another wrinkle in vacations comes from the auto industry's practice of shutting down plants and assembly lines for days and weeks. Suppliers and other small auto-related firms encourage employees to save vacation time and take those days during a shut-down, rather than be furloughed. While it restricts when workers can take off, it gives them the option of collecting vacation pay at their regular salary, rather than filing for unemployment benefits, which typically provide less money.
"It's encouraged industrywide," said Mandy Suwienski, human resources assistant with Eagle Industries of Wixom, a supplier of sound-absorbing foam for automotive applications.
"There's not anything written down in our employee handbook that says you must take vacation time during a shutdown," Suwienski added, "but I don't know any auto-industry company that doesn't encourage it."
Even with all these contractions, there are some employers who actually are increasing time off for employees.
• Bloomfield Hills-based Pulte Homes Inc. recently started giving its full-time employees an extra two paid days off for volunteering for organizations like Habitat for Humanity.
• Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing takes its Detroit staff on four-day, all-expenses-paid surprise trips yearly to locations like Amsterdam and Iceland.
• General Motors Corp. for the third year allowed salaried workers to purchase an additional three days of vacation for $175 per day. Executives pay $250 per day.
"We know that offering more days off is something employees really appreciate," said GM spokesman Robert Herta. It also helps the Detroit-based company reduce its payroll costs, he said.
Malcolm Hendricks, a mortgage specialist with Republic Bank in Bloomfield Hills, says he takes as many of the 35 paid vacation days his employer offers. Hendricks has won multiple awards as one of the bank's top performers.
"I need a break once in a while. I'll burn out if I don't," he said.
But for many, the summer sojourns or winter respites just don't seem possible.
Entrepreneurs like Karen and Cheryl Daskas, sisters who own the women's designer clothing and accessory boutique Tender in downtown Birmingham, fit that profile.
On the plus side, both say they love their work, and their sales have increased every year they have been in business. In fact, Italian Vogue just named the store among the top U.S. boutiques in its March edition. However, they have sacrificed time for themselves to be at the store nearly every day.
Cheryl Daskas sold her racing boat a few years back after it sat unused for more than a year.
"In 12 years, we've only had three real vacations. My sister and I work seven days a week," Karen Daskas said. "Weddings, bar mitzvahs, baby showers. We miss most of them."
Their last long vacation was more than three years ago to the south of Spain.
"At the end of the day, we're running a business and we're responsible. People's livelihoods depend on us," Karen Daskas said. "We have bills to pay."
Executive Search | Recruitment Process Outsourcing | Contract Staffing | College Recruiting | Site Map
This site is optimized for 1024x768 resolution and Internet Explorer.
Copyright © 2010 PrincetonOne