Millennials go on “quiet vacations”

The Future. A survey by The Harris Poll found that a surprising number of millennials are taking advantage of work-from-anywhere arrangements to take sanctioned vacations — a phenomenon being called “quiet vacationing.” That’s sure to ruffle the feathers of employers, but as long as projects are getting done on time and up to standard, this trend will likely only increase… further blurring the line between life and work.

PTNo
Last year, it was all about “quiet quitting.” This year, it’s all about “quiet vacationing.”

• Almost four out of ten millennials report that they’ve taken time off work without telling their employer and taking paid-time off — in contrast to only 24% of Gen Zers and Gen Xers.
• Millennials are even pros of pretending like they’re working while they’re on their unofficial vacations, with 38% saying they’ve moved their mouse just to make their work apps look “active.”
• And to look like they’re working overtime, 37% of millennials have scheduled an email to send outside of normal work hours — 10% more than Gen Z.

The Harris Poll chief strategy officer Libby Rodney, who coined “quiet vacationing,” says “there’s a giant workaround culture at play” and believes millennials are the biggest perpetrators of it because, unlike Gen Z, the generation generally doesn’t voice their need for a work-life balance. They’re burnt out but don’t want to rock the boat.

And the data backs it up — 78% of Americans don’t use all their PTO days (despite wanting to) and over 50% have taken work calls while on vacation. Maybe being “off the clock” has been a fiction for a while.