The most satisfied country according to holiday time was Japan, with only 53% stating they didn’t have enough of it.
Australia was next to New Zealand, with 57% reporting they were ‘vacation deprived’.
This score puts New Zealand below the average score of 62 per cent and far apart from Germany, where 84% of people felt short-changed in the holiday department.
Expedia did not explain New Zealand’s relatively low score. One factor could be New Zealand’s healthy number of public holidays, which provide 11 working days off (12 including regional holidays) in addition to the typical 21 days of annual leave.
The simple way Kiwis can be less deprived
There is one way the 55% of Kiwis feeling deprived could improve their situation; use all of their leave.
Of the 21 days most New Zealanders can take, people typically had three days left unused. Australians also took an average of 18 annual leave days out of 21.
Gen Z Kiwis advised to ‘adopt a boomer mindset’
When it came to different-aged Kiwis, Gen Zers in New Zealand claimed to be more vacation-deprived than any other generation.
Almost half (43%) of Kiwi Gen Z workers surveyed said they didn’t feel they had time off, compared to 25% of Baby Boomers.
The feeling of not having enough holiday time is likely because they don’t take it; 43% of Gen-Zers went six months or more between holidays and only 2% took time off every month.
In comparison, 7% of Boomers took time off every month and 64% didn’t let six months go by between holidays.
The main thing keeping young workers from booking a holiday was, alleged, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Half (49%) of Gen Zers said they struggled to take time off in case something important happened at work.
Only 21% of Boomers had the same concern.
Similarly, guilt also played a factor, with 55% of Gen Zers saying they felt guilty about coworkers having to cover their work while they were on holiday. As a result, more than half (54%) felt the need to apolgise for taking leave.
