The Numbers Don’t Lie: PTO Remains a Work in Progress

Workers are taking less paid time off (PTO) — not only because their PTO isn’t being approved but, in some cases, because they just aren’t asking for any time off.

A recent report from HR software company BambooHR found 33% of surveyed U.S. workers asked for paid time off in February — an 18% decline from January and a 6% drop compared to February of last year. In the same month, 16% of PTO requests were approved, down 9% from the previous month and 7% from the previous year. Globally, February requests were at 38% and approvals at 18%, signaling PTO request declines of 18% month-over-month and 4% year-over-year, and approval declines of 10% month-over-month and 8% year-over-year.

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The BambooHR report found PTO patterns also varied by industry:

The highest PTO request rates came from workers in the finance and nonprofit sectors.
Employees in the travel and hospitality industries and the restaurant, food and beverage industries were least likely to ask for PTO.
The industries most likely to approve time-off requests were construction and restaurant, food and beverage, and tech.
The healthcare sector saw the lowest PTO approval rates.

Why Are Workers Taking Less Time Off?

Economic concerns and fears about job security may be making employees more hesitant to ask for time off, said David Lewis, the national managing director of the HR and organizational effectiveness consulting practice at Gallagher.

“They want to avoid being out of sight, out of mind,” he said. “When you’re not there to be productive, does that put you in a position of greater vulnerability?”

Concerns and stress are also mounting for employees, noted Laine Thomas Conway, the vice president of engagement services strategy and enablement leader at benefit services provider Alight.

For example:

Alight found in 2024 that 45% of employees are more concerned about job stability than they were the previous year.
Alight also found employees often feel pressured to overwork — with almost 40% saying their employer expects too much of them and more than 40% saying they put too much pressure on themselves.
Almost 40% of Americans — and more than half of Gen Z and millennials — have a side hustle, according to the financial website LendingTree, with the majority of respondents citing economic conditions as the reason and saying they depend on the side income.

“People feel like maybe they shouldn’t push having time off as much, and they may also be worried that their manager won’t be as receptive,” Thomas Conway said. “But what we do know is that people need and want time off, so there’s a contradiction. The number two thing [after work-life balance] people say would help them improve or get control over their well-being is sufficient time off. Employees recognize there’s a need; they’re just not necessarily feeling comfortable asking for it.”

Lewis added employees also may be requesting less PTO because they want to save those days for a longer vacation later in the year, conserve PTO days for a larger payout at the end of the year or bank hours for a paid week off between jobs if they’re planning on resigning.

Unlimited PTO policies also may be to blame, he noted. These programs often tend to cause employees to start monitoring their peers’ comings and goings, or make some workers feel as though they can’t ask for much time off at all.

On the PTO approval side, Thomas Conway said she doesn’t believe employers and managers have simply arbitrarily decided they no longer want to approve time off. Rather, they may be feeling a similar pinch due to economic concerns.

When PTO requests flood in during busy times, approving every single one may be impossible when the organization still has targets to meet, Lewis said.

“There are many companies trying to get a sales number or quota completed before the end of the year, and people are needed around the organization to do that,” he said. “If you have an office where phones aren’t being answered, clients aren’t responded to or prospects have to wait weeks to get ahold of anyone, that’s counterproductive to the company’s optimized performance.”

The Impact of Overworked Employees

When employees don’t take time off, Thomas Conway said:

Their quality of life is impacted.
They’re more likely to experience burnout.
They become disengaged or less productive.
They use work time for personal well-being needs.
They look for a different position.

Both Thomas Conway and Lewis said there are several ways for employers to tackle this issue, including by:

Launching creative, personalized communications campaigns encouraging workers to use their PTO;
Ensuring messaging reminds workers that PTO can be used for brief recharge days, not just long vacations;
Promoting time off during less busy seasons;
Rewarding good work with small bites of additional time off or “mandatory” corporate PTO days;
Touching base with your managers to make sure they’re on board with your corporate time-off policy and messaging.

“If you’re looking at your own data and seeing there’s a downtick in people taking PTO, use your data to have some real conversations,” Thomas Conway said. “It’s going to impact you in the end if you don’t address it. Whether you need to do a communications campaign or relook what managers are saying, being proactive about analyzing your own data and communicating and promoting PTO will help you end up in a better place, and your workers will think much more highly of you because it is a valuable benefit.”

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