More Indians plan to take time off from work and take vacation in 2018

More Indians are learning to switch off from work and take a vacation. And, corporate India is encouraging a healthy work-life balance.

“Companies are encouraging employees to take a break and return rejuvenated,” said Parijat Chakraborty, executive director, Ipsos Public Affairs.

A survey conducted by Ipos showed that a majority of Indians polled (83 per cent) said they will be spending at least one week away from home on vacation in 2018.  This is three points higher than the previous year.  

Some other markets seeing a significant increase over 2017 in those planning to go on vacation include Turkey (74 per cent, up nine points), China (62 per cent, up eight points), and Sweden (72 per cent, up six points).

Most Indians plan to use up their entire entitled vacation days in a year.

More Indians plan to use up their entire quota of leave (72 per cent, up five points), compared to 2017, the survey said.

Some other markets experiencing a similar upsurge compared to the previous year include Australia (53 per cent, up seven points), France (66 per cent, up five points), and Saudi Arabia (81 per cent, up five points).

Those saying no to work emails and messages during vacation has also seen a significant jump in 2018.

More Indians are choosing to unplug from work emails and messages (54 per cent, up five points), as against 2017.

Other markets showing a similar trend include China (44 per cent, up seven points), Sweden (58 per cent, up seven points), Peru (49 per cent, up six points), Saudi Arabia (53 per cent, up five points), and Turkey (44 per cent, up five points).

“Indians learning to switch off from work while on vacation is a welcome change. With support from their teams, it is becoming easier to disconnect as its business as usual, otherwise,” Chakraborty added.

The monthly survey was conducted in 27 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system.

An international sample of 19,243 adults, aged 18 to 64 years in the US and Canada and aged 16 to 64 years in all other countries, were interviewed for the survey between June 22 and July 6 this year.