40% of marketers don’t take all of their annual leave
Four in ten marketers didn’t take all of their annual leave last year due to concerns around short deadlines and growing workloads.
According to a study by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters in November, almost half (48%) of those who did not take their full holiday allowance chose not to because of pressure to complete a project, being too busy or having leave requests turned down by an employer.
One in ten respondents took 50% or less of their entitled holiday time, and some ended the year with too much leave to roll over.
Marketers are worse at taking their full allowance than many other professions. The data shows that 37% of people in legal or secretarial and office support roles don’t take all of their annual leave, dropping to 36% for people IT positions and 31% for those in procurement and supply chain.
However, the figures for marketers are comparable to those in sales roles, where 40% don’t take all of their annual leave, and are much lower than the 62% of employees in financial services who don’t take all of their allowed vacation time.
The statistic for marketers could be a concern to employers’ reputations as the industry is faced with talent shortages, according to the consultancy. The Robert Walters Job Index, a barometer of advertised job volumes, shows that the number of marketing vacancies has risen by 18% since November 2013.
Tim Gilbert, director of marketing recruitment at Robert Walters, says: “In addition to minimising the risks posed by burnout and low morale, encouraging staff to take all of their annual leave enhances your company’s reputation as an attractive place to work.
“With the race for talent picking up, it’s considerations like these that could make all the difference to recruiting top talent.”
