According to a recent survey, released by Namely, attitudes toward summer vacation are shifting under the demands of the modern workplace and growing Millennial influence. While employees are willing to make big sacrifices for more paid time off (PTO), they are unlikely to use it and look for employers to support time off in different ways than they have in the past.

The survey results come as employees start to think about their summer getaways—the data shows that the longest vacations are often scheduled between June and August, but the average duration was just 2.34 days. Canvassing the PTO outlook of 471 employed adults in the United States, the April 2015 survey revealed that most employees are willing to make a big sacrifice for unlimited PTO, a current trend in employee benefits.

Respondents to the survey were willing to (or have already) given up stock options or a higher salary (40%) in return for more time off. And over two thirds of those surveyed rated PTO policies as “very critical” or “somewhat critical” when considering the entire benefits and compensation package for a new job.

Over half the survey participants said they intended to take 15, or in some cases, up to 20 days of annual vacation, but the average American only took 11 vacation days in 2015 (out of an average 15 offered), according to another recent survey. What accounts for this gap?

Limiting company policies are the number one barrier standing in the way of employees taking more time off, but when PTO is unlimited or policies are not an issue, people don't take the time they want due to other workplace pressures. Stress and negative perception play a key role in this; two of the biggest barriers preventing employees from taking more vacation time are “stress at the thought of missing time at work” (21%) and a “negative perception at work toward taking time off” (16%).

“What this tells us is that despite the best intentions to take large chunks of time away from work and unplug from technology, employees are feeling confined and are using vacation time differently than previous generations,” said Matt Straz, founder and CEO of Namely. “The result is shorter, more frequent bursts of vacation time requested last minute, which may have a negative impact on the business when not planned in advance and communicated effectively …”

Survey methodology

Namely surveyed 471 participants in April 2015 with 10 questions aimed at gauging attitudes toward vacation and PTO. The questions varied from “how do you plan to use your PTO this summer” to “on a scale of one to five, how critical is PTO in the entire benefits and compensation package with considering a new job”? Demographic data (age, gender, kids, and salary range) is available for all survey responses. For more survey results click here.