Managers and younger workers alike are secretly taking extra summer days

PDFFly surveyed two thousand managers and senior managers, discovering that while a large majority think employees are inventing excuses for summer time off, about half of the managers themselves admit to doing so. The most frequent false reasons cited were sick days, exaggerated family obligations, fake appointments, and alleged technical issues. Nearly ten percent of managers simply log on without working at all.

The same research noted that six in ten managers see a drop in productivity during summer, with some reporting losses of clients or missed deals. In parallel, a study by Resume Builder reported that many millennials take “quiet vacations,” often slipping away for a few days or even a full week without informing their bosses, and some exploit medical leave for longer, paid periods. Both trends are driven by anxiety about requesting time off rather than workload ease.