There is a certain irony in writing this piece during the summer. This is usually when offices begin to thin out, when conversations drift toward flight deals and city-break plans, and when out-of-office auto-replies get drafted by the dozens. Yet leaders might look around to find the opposite: desks that are normally vacant remain occupied, and holiday requests that normally flood their inboxes are nowhere to be seen.
If this is your experience, your organization may be swept up in the “holiday hoarding” crisis, characterized by the growing tendency for workers to hold onto their paid time off (PTO) rather than use it. New data from Breathe HR shows that around half of U.K. workers didn’t take their full PTO last year, and U.S. figures from Pew paint a similar picture. And the trend is worsening: At Breathe HR, we found that 1 in 4 workers plan to take less vacation time this year than last year.
There are a plethora of reasons why workers are choosing to forgo PTO, but it can be partly attributed to the tough job market on both sides of the pond. It’s fueling a wave of job insecurity that’s prompting many employees to worry that stepping away from work—even briefly—will be perceived as a lack of commitment. According to our poll, 1 in 5 workers admit they’re worried about redundancy and the tough job market, so they hold back from taking their full PTO in case it negatively impacts how managers view them.
The causes of holiday hoarding also stretch into the cultural and structural fabric of organizations. We found that a fifth of workers say that their employer doesn’t encourage them to use their PTO. A third say their workload prevents them from taking a vacation, and Pew reports nearly half feel guilty knowing their colleagues may have to pick up the slack in their absence. When workloads are unsustainable, and rest is seen as an indulgence rather than a necessity, staff won’t feel able to take the time off that they’re entitled to.
And then there’s technology, which has blurred the boundary between “on” and “off” the clock beyond recognition. With over a third of holiday hoarders getting contacted by managers while on holiday, time off rarely means switching off. It’s no wonder employees are starting to question whether it’s worth taking PTO at all.
The holiday-hoarding crisis should concern leaders, and it is as much a productivity issue as it is a well-being one. Breathe HR’s research shows that almost half of holiday hoarders feel burnt out by year-end. This is not the foundation for a healthy and productive workforce.
We all know the saying, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” The same logic applies at work. If employees are expected to show up with energy, focus, and sharp judgment, their cups need to be full—and having the time and space to rest is what fills them up. A culture that fails to treat regular breaks as a normal part of working life is a culture that will eventually buckle under its own weight. Decision-making and performance will suffer, and poor employee health could end up costing businesses billions.
It’s therefore critical that leaders view rest and paid time off as a strategic priority if they want their organization—and those within it—to thrive.
The first step is to model, and actively encourage, good holiday-taking habits from the top. Employees aren’t only consulting company handbooks to understand an employer’s approach to PTO. They’re also watching how senior leaders behave to understand what’s actually expected. This means that the example leaders set has to go beyond booking time off to genuinely disconnecting while away. This means not replying to emails, lurking on Slack, or offering to be “available if needed” to colleagues. Leaders also need to monitor workers’ holiday habits and remind those who are underutilizing their vacation time to book a break.
The next step is to start evaluating performance based on output, not just hours logged. More time spent at our desks does not guarantee greater productivity. In fact, if someone works for weeks—or months—without rest, burnout could set in and the quality of work can drop. Shifting to an outcomes-based outlook will enhance productivity and is essential for abating workers’ fears that taking time off will hurt their career and dismantling the holiday-hoarding mindset.
Leaders must also address the workload issue. When every third employee says their workload is stopping them from taking paid time off, it suggests the problem is structural. And if people can’t pause for even a few days without falling behind, that’s an indicator that workloads are unsustainable. Managers need to keep a keen eye on team members’ task lists and ensure that handover processes are clear and consistently followed, so staff feel genuinely able to take leave and disconnect fully whilst they’re away from their desks.
Finally, make scheduling time off frictionless. We found that over a quarter of workers find it difficult to track how much leave they have taken or have remaining, and this could prevent them from taking more. So make it easy for staff to find out how much PTO they’re entitled to.
The holiday-hoarding crisis is real, but it’s not irreversible. And fixing the culture around taking holidays starts with leaders. When we treat time off as a necessity and build cultures that genuinely encourage rest, we give our people, and the organization as a whole, the best chance to thrive year-round.