Monday Buzz: The State of Vacation Deprivation

Already feeling like there’s no time left to use your paid time off before 2016 rolls around the corner? You’re not alone: Plenty of workers in the United States and abroad end up leaving their well-earned vacation days on the table.

Expedia’s 15th annual Vacation Deprivation study  (opens in a new tab) shows that in 2015, Europeans got plenty of vacation days, and used almost all of them, while American workers received half as many and used even fewer.

“Europeans are the world’s least-deprived vacationers,” Expedia stated in a news release on the study, noting that in many countries, workers use nearly all 30 of the vacation days offered to them. Americans, meanwhile, average 15 earned vacation days a year, but they take only 11 of them; this translates into the nation’s about 122 million full-time employees’ leaving slightly less than 500 million vacation days unused. Because of that statistic, it comes as no surprise that Expedia found that 53 percent of Americans categorize themselves as “somewhat or very” vacation-deprived.

As for Asian countries, many rank near the bottom when it comes to workers taking their days. Overall, employees in South Korea and Japan are the least inclined to use their vacation, according to the study. On average, South Korean workers use just six of their 15 available days, and Japanese workers use only 12 of their 20.

And for those unwilling to immediately go and take a vacation, you can read more on the study here  (opens in a new tab).

Guide of the Day

Looking to lock down your blogging process? CoSchedule blog contributor Julie Neidlinger has outlined each step to prepare you, based on CoSchedule’s full guide to successful blogging  (opens in a new tab).

Other Good Reads

Take a dive into the new podcasting landscape, which Nieman Journalism Lab Director Joshua Benton characterizes  (opens in a new tab) as “exciting, evolving, and trouble for incumbents.”

In the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, the Environmental Protection Agency is now concerned that changes to federal law could allow individual auto enthusiasts to skirt emissions standards. New York Times reporters Barry Meier and Jad Mouawad provide an in-depth report on the issue  (opens in a new tab).

How will associations cope with rising minimum wages? Association expert Steve Drake explores some possibilities in his latest post on SCDdaily  (opens in a new tab).

(Elena Berridy/Stocksnap)