2012宣言：休假有理，浪费可耻

    你计划下周休个假、好好放松一下吗？如果是，那你只是少数派。办公空间解决方案供应商雷格斯（Regus）对12,000名员工进行的调查显示，在圣诞节与元旦期间，将有64%的员工正常上班。从传统意义上来说，大多数人应在此期间休假，并且许多公司也会选择歇业。

    此外，假期加班已经成为一个日益普遍的趋势：去年12月份，咨询公司睿仕管理顾问公司（Right Management）对美国职场人士进行了一项调查，主题是：“你今年的法定假期都休完了吗？”其中50%给出了否定回答。今年，睿仕公司又进行了一次调查，而这次的比例增加到了70%。

    调查结果显示，职场人士顾虑重重，深恐丢掉饭碗。睿仕公司高级副总裁迈克尔•海德认为：“人员在不断精简，工作负担却在加重，职业安全感存在不确定性。职场人士面临着巨大的压力。”

    这可不是开玩笑。不过海德补充道，明智的雇主应该鼓励员工隔段时间休假一次。他说：“假期时间是保持员工队伍健康高效的根本。其实放弃几天假期本身并不是什么大问题，但如果这么多人都放弃法定假期，那说明我们真的有麻烦了。”比如“人才流失、不必要的人员流动、旷工、频繁出现健康或安全方面的问题，以及其他一系列人力资源问题。”

    假如老板没那么开明，富有远见，没有督促身为员工的你出城休假（或者至少让你走出办公室），那么可以考虑一条比较激进的建议：只管去做好了。国际企业培训公司 （Corporate Coaching International）总裁、高管培训师洛伊斯•弗兰克尔指出：“员工放弃休假，意味着美国的企业雇主们将获得价值200亿美元的免费馈赠。没有谁会主动把领到的工资主动退回去，那为什么要放弃休假呢？休假同样是员工应得的薪酬福利中的一部分。”

Planning to kick back and relax next week? If so, you're in the minority: A survey of 12,000 employees by office-space company Regus says that 64% of us will be conducting business as usual during the week between Christmas and New Year's -- traditionally a time when most people take vacation days, and many companies used to close down altogether.

    What's more, toiling right through the holidays is part of a much larger trend: Last December, consultants Right Management polled U.S. workers and asked, "Have you used all your vacation time this year?" Fifty percent said they hadn't. When Right's researchers repeated the poll this year, that figure jumped to 70%.

    The findings suggest that people who have jobs are anxious about keeping them. "Staffing is lean, workloads are heavier, and job security is uncertain," observes Michael Haid, a senior vice president at Right Management. "There's a lot of stress in the workplace."

    No kidding. But if they're smart, Haid adds, employers will encourage people to take a break once in a while. "Vacation time is fundamental to a healthy, productive workforce," he says. "By itself, foregoing a few days off may not be significant, but when so many people think they shouldn't take the time they're entitled to, we have problems." These include "low retention, unnecessary turnover, absenteeism, frequent health or safety claims, and a host of other HR issues."

    Let's say your employer is not so enlightened, or so far-sighted, as to urge you to get out of town (or at least away from the office). Here's a radical suggestion: Do it anyway. "Skipping vacations amounts to a $20 billion annual giveaway to U.S. employers," notes Lois Frankel, an executive coach who is president of Corporate Coaching International. "You wouldn't volunteer to give back part of your paycheck, so why surrender something that is just as much a part of the compensation you have earned?"