PTO is not just a luxury anymore, but a necessity to building a strong, productive workforce. And a few top employers are making it a point to help their employees get the time off they need.
Sixty-two percent of workers said having a job that offers paid time off is "extremely important" to them, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Yet nearly half of workers who have paid time off reported taking less time away than their employer offered.
"Vacation time is vital to workers' well-being, yet most people aren't taking the amount of time off they need to recharge," said Keith Spencer, career expert at FlexJobs, in the release. "Fortunately, there are a growing number of companies that see the value not just in providing paid time off, but also in motivating and supporting their staff to actually take it."
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FlexJobs ranked organizations based on how they incentivize their employees to go on vacation and found some appealing perks. In first place, vacation rental company Airbnb offers its employees annual travel and experience credits that allows them to live and work in 110 locations. Human resources company BambooHR and online scheduling platform Calendly came in second and third place, for their annual offering of $2,000 and $1,000, respectively, that employees can put towards travel — including hotels, flights, or rental cars.
While monetary incentives can help employees pay for vacation, setting the tone that time off is encouraged can also help employees who feel anxious about getting away. Thirty-five percent of employees admitted to taking fewer vacation days because they were concerned about colleagues having to absorb their workload when they were away, FlexJobs found. Forty-one percent also avoided taking a break because of the work they feared would be waiting for them when they returned, while others felt pressure to appear dedicated or worry that they will be seen as replaceable if the business runs smoothly while they are out.
But in the aftermath of the pandemic, employers are starting to realize that encouraging time away is critical for productivity. See which companies made FlexJobs' list and are making vacations easy and accessible to their employees:
