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Kronos Posts Its '2012 Working the Holidays' Survey ResultsDec 20, 2012 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- A new survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc. and conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that many people plan to take time off this holiday season, significantly more than in recent years. According to a release, the 2012 Working the Holidays survey also looks at the growing trend of employers closing for the time between Christmas and New Year's. News Facts -This year, 38 percent of those employed full-time say they plan to take Monday, December 24 off while 28 percent say they plan to take Monday, December 31 off1. This means that more than a quarter of the U.S. workforce will be absent on these days, more than in 20072 when 14 percent of people planned to take off December 24 and 16 percent planned to take off December 31. Both days fell on a Monday that year as well. -When asked if their place of work closed during the entire time between Christmas and New Year's Day, 26 percent of full-time employees said yes. This number was higher than in 2007 when only 18 percent answered yes to the same question. -When asked if they typically took off the entire time between Christmas and New Year's Day, only 14 percent of people said yes, down from the 32 percent who answered yes to that question in 2007. -When asked to describe what their place of work was like in the month of December, answers varied: 68 percent said it was "business as usual"; 17 percent said December was their busiest time of year; and 15 percent said their workplace was "a ghost town". Joyce Maroney, director of The Workforce Institute, Kronos said, "We are seeing a trend of more people taking time off this holiday season and more employees reporting that their organization is closing for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. After the tough economic conditions of the last few years when many organizations have reduced headcount and merit increases have been small if given at all, it's possible that employees are feeling more encouraged to use their paid time off and also that organizations may be looking to reward their staff for weathering the storms of the past few years with an extended vacation." The 2012 survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Kronos from November 30 - December 4, among 2,691 adults ages 18 and older. The 2007 survey was conducted online from November 29 - December 3, 2007 among 2,949 adults ages 18 and older. Neither online survey is based on a probability sample and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Kronos is a company focusing on delivering workforce management solutions in the cloud. More information: www.workforceinstitute.org www.kronos.com ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) |