With or without Ebola, it appears that Americans have no shortage of excuses to avoid travel. According to a recent survey, American workers forfeited 169 million days of paid time off in 2013, a workplace benefit valued at some $52 billion.
The numbers were crunched by Oxford Economics on behalf of the U.S. Travel Association, and they reveal a disturbing trend: The U.S. has long been a slacker among developed nations in terms of the amount of vacation time granted to workers and the amount they actually use, and we're getting worse.
In 2013, employees took an average of 16 days of vacation, the lowest total in nearly 40 years.
U.S. Travel said the data also dispel the myth that workplace martyrs who don't take vacation are more likely to get a raise or promotion. It's not true.
Moreover, workers who leave more unused vacation time on the table are more likely to get stressed out on the job.
As U.S. Travel President Roger Dow summed it up, "All work and no play is not going to get you ahead--it's only going to get you more stress."