Long-Strained Staffs Ready for Respite

With Economy Rebounding, More Employees Say They'll Take Vacations Again

Last year, companies didn't have to worry all that much about scheduling around their workers' vacations. More than any year before, employees took shorter vacations, or put that relaxation time off completely. Not that employees were literally fearful of finding a pink slip upon returning from a week away, but there was a general sense of unease, of not wanting to fade from the boss's view by taking time off.

Some employees were afraid that because they were in high demand, filling in for laid-off co-workers, there just was not enough time to leave the office for a week to sip margaritas beachside.

Michael, an accountant who works for a company in Bethesda that is under bankruptcy protection and asked that his last name not be used, said he and his wife plan to take a few long weekends away this summer despite his company's situation. He knows the company needs him for at least another year, so before his office is reduced to a skeleton crew, he will take some time for himself.

"If I had something to do or planned, I'd go ahead and do it regardless of what's going on here or elsewhere," he said.

According to a poll by Maritz Research Inc., 30 percent of 1,000 employed Americans say their work team is planning to hire someone soon. And 57 percent say their company is doing better than a year ago. "So what will be interesting is to track this, moving forward, and how that impacts people's interest in taking vacations," said Rick Garlick, director of strategic consulting with the Maritz Research Hospitality Group. "Until this point, people have been very paranoid, working hard to prove their worth. . . . Companies are cutting costs, sending jobs overseas. So you see how it impacts the need to take time off."

On Tuesday, AAA said that more people will travel this Memorial Day weekend than last, thanks to a recovering economy. According to an annual survey by the organization, 30.9 million people, up 3.4 percent from last year, will travel 50 miles or more by automobile for the long weekend. An additional 4.1 million plan to travel by plane, up 5.3 percent from last year.

"We're getting back to numbers that approximate pre-9/11," said Lon Anderson, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic.

But in general, Americans' vacations have been shrinking, and that's not a good thing.

The average length of vacation time spent away from home was four days in 2003, compared with 5.4 nights in 1985 and more than a week 25 years ago, according to the Travel Industry Association.