The job market is in the middle of its summer doldrums at the moment. Many hiring managers and recruiters are on their vacations and so are many job seekers. Some job seekers who are working hard to find a job right now get frustrated at the market conditions and the slowness of response by hiring managers. It was with all this in mind that I read an article this morning at one of the online news sites that I found interesting. The article was about how many people actually work during their vacations. If you are a job seeker trying to get a response out of someone - anyone - to whom you have sent your resume, it might be a little hard to believe that anyone is working while on vacation.
The poll/study said that 43 percent of office workers take their work with them on vacation. It noted that was up considerably from a similar poll taken in 1995 when only 23 percent of people said they worked during vacation. The article made the point that the technology of today allows us to work in a more mobile fashion than eleven years ago. Laptops, PDAs, wireless broadband in hotels, etc. all contribute to the ease of taking your work along.
The article also noted that only 61 percent of Americans use all their vacation time. I think that says more about our state of life balance than anything. The Europeans (think the French) get mandated vacation time of something like four weeks a year. Somehow I think they use every last minute of it. We Americans, on the other hand, are continuing in our 200+ year old tradition of working overtime, extra time, on vacation, and during our commutes in order to meet our huge personal debt load that it seems everyone is carrying. Everyone owes so everyone goes to work.
And then we wonder why we are all sick with heart disease, take antidepressants by the bucketful, and scream at our kids. Is the Lexus worth it? Is the 4800 square foot house worth it? Is the 30 foot cabin cruiser worth it? I heard a great quote the other day and unfortunately I don't know to whom to contribute it, but it went like this Happiness will only be found with contentment is gained.
My whole point is that if you are getting set to go on vacation before the kids go back to school - leave the laptop and the Blackberry at home. Life is too short to work all the time.