podcast

America's workplace culture and lack of paid time off are causing burnout. The cost of living has increased, but benefits and workers' rights have decreased. Many Americans can't support themselves and their families comfortably. Paid time off is limited, and workers feel pressure to not take time off. A survey showed that many Americans don't receive paid holidays or have limited vacation time. Low wages also make it difficult to afford vacations. The rising cost of living is impacting families' ability to cover expenses. Many can't afford vacations and have to focus on basic needs. The cost of living and inflation make it hard to save and retire. Vacations are not always feasible due to financial constraints. Hello everyone and welcome to this podcast episode called Stuck which will be discussing America's workplace culture including a lack of paid time off and an influx of burnout so over the last decade the cost of living has increased Tremendously across the country and a lot of people argue over like what the leading factors might be whether that be you know politics or just the natural flow of economics, but it has Undoubtedly affected a majority of working Americans and along with an increase in living costs There's unfortunately been a decrease in benefits and acknowledgement of workers rights Less and less Americans are find themselves able to comfortably support themselves and their families And so as of right now the cost of living for one person is currently estimated to rain from about like 2,500 to 3,500 a month this equates to an average of 36 K a year This jumps to over $7,000 a month for a family of four which is going to require at least at least 85 K a year for a household income. Okay, yet the average household house household income Sits at like 75 to 80 K across multiple states so, you know, obviously there's a problem here things are Undoubtedly not adding up and you know on top of this many of our working Americans Receive a little to no paid time off to reward them for their hard work And you know just give them some time to rest and rejuvenate And even when they do receive paid time off a lot of them don't utilize it but not because they just don't want to or don't feel like it, but there is a sense of What like feeling like you're going to be letting down your company or your co-workers or the pressure of their workload and feeling like you? Know they don't even have the time To take a day off to take a sick day to take a vacation. They need to be at work They need to be doing their job So prior to the recording of this podcast, I sent out a survey to Just some adults around me whether that be like my my own co-workers my parents co-workers, you know Parents of some of my friends. I just sent them out a survey as Timing questions on it, you know just basically asking About different things related to like their occupation how much paid time off or like paid holidays they receive Their ability to like take vacations and At the end ask them if they're like experiencing any burnout so Throughout this episode. I'm gonna kind of be bouncing back and forth between Just some Research and like some personal dialogue and then Discussing the answers that I was given to some of the questions I asked So, um according to an article in Forbes advisor and by Balook in 2024 28 million Americans do not receive any paid holidays and nearly 30% of US employees do not receive paid time off So on that note, we're going to take a quick look at a couple questions that I asked in my survey I had about 13 responses and First question we're going to discuss is do you receive paid time off? If so, how much? And we've got some slightly varying answers here. We're going to start off with three Three people say no just straight up. No. Um One of those being a teacher saying that you know, they're not on a like Paid time off like they don't get paid time off because they have a set amount of days in their contract As a teacher that they like they have to be in class with students So they're not paid by the hours. They're not really on the juror like under the jurisdiction of being able to receive paid time off Another one saying they're not on a PTO schedule. So they do receive paid time off, but it's not like they Earn it by working so many hours per year. It's also seniority. So The person who answered the question, this is anonymous, by the way They said that they have been with the company for five years. So they received 15 paid vacation days Another person saying two weeks a year seven days a year Two weeks 120 hours a year two weeks Three ish hours per paycheck 40 hours 40 hours Two weeks nine hours per pay period And lastly someone's saying that they receive one day a paid time off a year one singular day Um, the next question I asked if they received paid holidays if so, which holidays um Three people just stand up saying no, they don't receive paid holidays. Um Another person say they don't receive the holidays paid but on holidays they receive paid time off As a sort of bonus that they can use on a later occasion So i'm saying all holidays during the school year A lot of like christmas thanksgiving everyone who gets a holiday say christmas thanksgiving some people getting only christmas and thanksgiving Some people getting only christmas and thanksgiving Someone saying their schedule varies and is set by a local school board of elected officials um Something for the july labor day memorial day all federal all major holidays one person stated they receive Memorial day labor day christmas eve christmas day thanksgiving black friday New year's day and then one floating holiday to use as they wish for one of the holidays that they don't already receive covered so Low wages can also contribute to like an inability to take vacations So even if employees do have some paid time off, they might not be able to afford it because of the costs associated with taking a vacation Such as you know, like just regular travel and like accommodation expenses So back to the survey I asked people When was the last time you took a vacation? Where was it? How long was it? We get someone saying last may so a year ago in colorado for eight days Another person saying they took a caribbean cruise in march of this year 2024 for eight days um One saying they went to atlanta, georgia for four days um August 2022 In colorado for four days. So the last time they were able to take a vacation was in 2022 for four days Um, another person saying they have not taken one yet since they've been at this current job Um someone two months ago going to nashville for four days another person going Looks like march of 2024 to florida for 10 days. Um Um Someone took a vacation mid-april for four days and then One person took a two-week vacation. They took all of their Time off in january of 2022. They spent one week in florida and one week at home Um February i'm with outer banks north carolina for four days christmas weekend of 2023 to scottsdale arizona for five days And then april 11th through 14th in waco, texas And then last august in north carolina for nine days Um, I asked them also if they had complications with their job to be able to take the vacation Um, someone said they had to use two personal days um because they Didn't like receive like time off so they got their two personal days that they were allowed for the year That's they had to use Um quite a few people saying that they didn't have any complications Um being like they had like a spring or a summer break Um, another one saying they're on summer break um one saying That you know their boss was willing to work with them because they used their like time off it's time that they had earned Um one person saying yes because they didn't have enough personal days and the person saying yes because Um, there weren't enough employees to take an extended period of time off And another person saying sort of they try to schedule everyone accordingly so that you know People can take time off to take these vacations so in 2019 some studies from p research concluded that about 80 percent of American families have noticed an increase in living expenses with um 35 percent of middle-income families admitting to Actually having worries about their ability to cover the bills each month And this is genuinely not something that a family should have to live every day worrying about um, whether or not they can pay for groceries whether or not they can you know Pay for their kids extra curricular activities. The kid wants to play baseball wants to play softball basketball any of that Just everyday things that people should not have to worry about and they should be able to live Comfortably with that in the back of their head, but unfortunately, this is the harsh reality of america's economy So back to the survey once again I asked people if it would be feasible for them to take a vacation right now within the next 12 months A lot of people saying no No They either can't afford it or you know, it's just not in the books with their jobs um I asked some people If the rising cost of living has you know impacted their family Um, some people say yes a lot um you people saying it feels like you have to work more of You know more than what you want to have a good living but that affects your family life and your mental health Um, you have to focus more on basic living needs than vacation and personal wants Groceries and gas are a lot more expensive one person saying that they're not able to retire according to plan because taxes and inflation have you know set that off track alongside with The cost of living, you know owning a house and having your own family Um, someone's saying the thing like it impacts everyone but they mainly notice it in their grocery bills So another mention of groceries Um one person saying luckily it has not impacted their essentials But you know, they have to be smarter with their quote-unquote fun money um Another one saying less fun money. They don't have as many opportunities to do fun experiences like they used to Makes it hard to do anything fun Um, just a lot of negativity coming through from this they spend more and are able to save less um and Inflation without matching pay can just be really difficult at times is what i'm seeing a lot with this So with these struggles already rising within american households vacation is not always on the table Obviously i've just discussed that a lot of people are not able to take a vacation now or at all within the next 12 months Um Not only has the cost of living been rising but the cost of luxury as well The average vacation hot spot is no longer like an achievable destination for most You know, everyone wanted to go to hawaii and florida. That's where they went for spring break That's when they went for christmas vacation, but travel costs and inflation have contributed to making this luxury Completely unaffordable So for the cost of traveling the average amount of money spent for family of four can reach close to ten thousand dollars Um forbes advisor reporting that on average a single round trip flight costs around four hundred dollars rental costs So like an airbnb anything like that seven hundred ninety dollars a night. That's like average That's honestly a bit lower for some places and you know A bit higher if you don't have too many people um Meals for a day for four people cost about four hundred twenty dollars assuming that you know You're probably you're going out to eat. You're on vacation. You're probably going out to eat um And activities they can stack up depending completely on the location and time of year No matter where you're going. It's gonna cost you quite a chunk of money though however, even with this, you know lack of being able to get away financially Forty nine percent of americans according, you know to a study by pakora japanese university study Um people still express a desire to get away But they want to go on vacation. Everyone wants to go on vacation Um, the combination of these factors can lead to burnout in the workplace So a study found in a research paper written in 2023 by clink hoffer Discusses that 48 percent of today's workers report feelings of burnout so burnout is a state of emotional and physical mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress so when employees are Unable to take breaks and recharge they become more susceptible to burnout which can Negatively impact their performance their health and just their overall well-being. So when someone's stuck at work um Like pushing or above 40 hours constantly being thrown into overtime With especially little to no benefits, you know, they have less time to themselves less time with their family and less time to just Just take a break to take a breather to collect themselves It's it's terrible for your mental health. It's terrible and that's what a lot of people are experiencing right now A lot of them so for the final mention of the survey that I sent out. Um, there's a couple more questions I asked First of all be have you experienced any sensations of burnout in your job within the last few years? And you know asking if they could give a little description on how it affected their relationship with work and their mental health um A couple people saying no Um But more often than not people are saying like they can one person saying I can tell when i'm getting run down I work two jobs. So I find that sometimes I just need to cut back at the second one And take a little bit of a breather Um, another person saying I tend to overwork myself sometimes and when I do that I lose passion for what I do which Very much a sign of burnout very much. So Um saying kind of you know Just making sure that I talk to my supervisor and i'm taking days off for myself, which is good it's a very good thing anyone experiencing burnout needs to like If you're in a position to be able to do it talk to someone talk to someone I implore you and Just a few people saying yes um Yes, it Made it hard for me to go to work and didn't give me a lot of time to spend with those that i'm close to Which is honestly really sad To think about another person saying it made me less productive less focused made them lose interest in their personal hobbies um major stress questioning their job weekly Being in a full-time career like something that you full-heartedly dedicated your Degree to and then you finally get there and your mental health is so bad that you are questioning your job weekly is very disheartening and Another person not wanting to put any effort into their work And then finally I asked, you know the Responders to my survey. Do you believe that if you were given more paid time off for benefits? You would experience less burnout and be happier in your career um disciplined absolutely I had Six weeks a year for vacation. I could usually get a time off that I asked for The issue was short staff and higher test volume So Their pto was good. It was just the fact that even with that pto they could not get out of work which Obviously, that's not something that you know benefits can fix You know, it's simply a problem with like employers just overbearing their workers um Something I think it would make anyone happier to have more time off I do believe it would have prevented burnout and employees and my co-workers would have been much happier Um My job has good pto but for benefits. Yes, it wouldn't be as stressful to worry about Um, my thing is if I get paid a little more which yes, I would say still falls under benefits If wages could match, you know the increased cost of living Obviously there would be less burnout And less things for people to worry about six people Just straight up saying yes Just plain saying yes um Another person this was more of a deeper response saying no vacation cannot fix ineffective education models That demand too many hours per day given expectations and pay And it's a major issue in the education system and you know contracts for teachers Completely agree. Some careers are simply just overworked um another person saying yes more paid time off and better insurance and then another person just Straight up saying yes So moral of the story People of america the workers of america are just being worked To death with no benefits They are getting everything worked out of them and getting nothing in return And it's things that people should be able to take a vacation everyone deserves to take a vacation Everyone deserves to take time for themselves. Even if that vacation is simply just staying at home Spending time with your family spending time with your friends with your loved ones with anyone taking time to yourself Should not be a luxury that should be That is earned that is deserved to anyone with a full-time job to anyone and the fact that that's not happening and it's causing people to be completely burned out and lose passion and motivation for not only their careers, but their personal desires And to question their jobs to question their careers It's saddening and it's terrible and america As a workforce as a whole workforce Needs to do something about it Thank you