Staying Fit
Boomers seem to be doing their best to defend an American institution — the summer vacation — that’s increasingly being intruded upon by the demands of a 24/7 work culture.
A recent survey of 2,800 U.S. workers by accounting staffing firm Accountemps, a Robert Half company, found that unlike younger employees, most boomers don’t check in with the office while they’re on holiday. Sixty percent of boomers say they stay unplugged from work, compared with just 31 percent of millennials and 43 percent of Gen Xers.
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Of those boomers who do check in while they’re vacationing, 15 percent say they do it only once or twice a week. Another 10 percent check in several times a week, the same percentage that makes contact once or twice each day. Only 4 percent check in several times daily.
Accountemps Executive Director Michael Steinitz said boomers feel confident about remaining out of touch because they’ve planned for it. “Through years of experience, they may have developed processes that help them prioritize and delegate work, leaving projects with trusted colleagues while they are away,” he said.
Boomers similarly are resisting the trend of “workcations,” in which employees travel to a beach or some other vacation spot but continue to work a regular schedule remotely. A survey of 4,349 U.S. adults conducted on behalf of Project Time Off, an initiative by the U.S. Travel Association, found that only 18 percent of boomers were interested in workcations, compared with 39 percent of millennials and 28 percent of Gen Xers.
