Executive assistants struggle to de-stress on holiday

A third of UK executive assistants take their holiday as ëmini breaksí
Many struggle to de-stress with 1 in 5 taking up to five days to relax
Females de-stress faster than males

Executive assistants prefer to take the ëmini-breakí holiday as opposed to weeks away from the office, according to research released today (27 December 2006) by OfficeTeam, a leading provider of specialised administrative personnel on a temporary and full-time basis.

According to the 2006 UK OfficeTeam Salary Survey, almost a third of office workers take their holiday as one-off days to make a long weekend / short break, while only six per cent take two week long breaks.

The survey went on to discover that a staggering one in five (20 per cent) executive assistants take three to five days to be completely relaxed when on holiday and six per cent take a full week. Out of the respondents the females were seen to de-stress faster than males with 29 per cent of females saying it takes them just one to two days until they are completely relaxed and de-stressed on holiday, compared to 22 per cent of males.

Victoria Sprott, Regional Director for OfficeTeam, comments:
ìOur survey clearly showed a worrying pattern with many workers choosing to take very short holiday breaks and struggling to de-stress within the first few days of the holiday. We suggest that people should try and take at least one elongated break away from the office even if itís just to relax at home.

As well as this we suggest that when you do take holiday that you plan well-ahead, let clients and colleagues know that you are away and where possible try to stay out of electronic contact with the office. If you manage your holiday time successfully you should in theory be able to de-stress far quicker.î

The survey also reveals that the average number of days holiday for a UK executive assistant per year is 23.5, with 16 per cent of those questioned getting 20 days or less, and eight per cent get more than 28 day. Regionally, those in the Midlands get the most holiday (24.6) while those on the South Coast get the least (22 days). It was also found that older executive assistants getting more holiday with those between 51 and 55 receiving an average of 26.6 days per year (three days more than the average) and those aged 16 to 20 receiving only 19.7 days.

Victoria Sprott continued:
ìOver recent years cheaper budget air fares have meant we have changed the way we take our holiday time. As our survey clearly shows, most UK workers opt to take the long weekends and extended bank holidays by utilising individual holiday days. The way workers take their allocation of their holiday days is now typically a meticulously planned affair with people booking up ëpopularí days as early as New Yearís Day.î