Beyond Quiet Quitting: Why 4 in 10 Millennials Are Taking "Quiet Vacations" on the Company Dime
Summer has arrived—and with it, a new workplace trend employers should watch closely: "quiet vacationing."
While "quiet quitting" dominated headlines last year, a subtler phenomenon is now gaining traction. Instead of mentally checking out while remaining at their desks, a growing number of employees—particularly millennials—are physically checking out altogether. They're taking unauthorized time off, traveling domestically or abroad, and maintaining the illusion of productivity by sporadically responding to emails or moving their cursor to appear "active" on work platforms.
In short: Your employee might be replying to Slack messages from a beach in another country—and you might not even know it.
The Data: Millennials Lead the Trend
According to a 2024 Harris Poll report on out-of-office culture, 28% of workers admit to taking time off without notifying their employer. But the behavior isn't evenly distributed across generations:
- **Millennials**: Nearly 4 in 10 have taken a "quiet vacation."
- **Gen Z, Gen X, and Baby Boomers**: Fewer than 1 in 4 report doing the same
Millennials are also the most likely to employ digital tactics to mask their absence—scheduling delayed messages, automating status updates, or manually repositioning their laptop cursor to simulate activity.
Contrary to stereotypes about entitlement or laziness, researchers emphasize that anxiety—not apathy—is the primary driver. A separate 2024 Resume Builder study found that 43% of quiet vacationers take no more than three unauthorized days off, while a quarter extend it to a full workweek. The motivation? Fear. Two in five workers worry that formally requesting time off could jeopardize their job security or limit advancement opportunities.
How to Spot a Quiet Vacationer
Career coach Kyle Elliott identifies one telltale sign: a noticeable shift in communication patterns.
> "If someone who typically responds to emails and Slack messages within minutes suddenly takes hours—or starts replying at unusual times—they may be working from a different location or time zone," Elliott notes.
Other red flags include:
- Vague or delayed responses to urgent requests
- Background noise in video calls that suggests travel (airport announcements, ocean waves)
- Inconsistent availability during core working hours
- Over-reliance on pre-scheduled messages or automated replies
The Real Issue Isn't the Vacation—It's the Culture
While it's tempting to focus on surveillance or stricter policies, Elliott urges leaders to look deeper.
> "This behavior is often a symptom of a larger cultural issue—such as a lack of psychological safety, unclear expectations, or a workplace that implicitly penalizes time off," he explains.
Rather than policing mouse movements, employers should:
1. **Clarify PTO policies**: Ensure employees understand how and when they can take leave without stigma.
2. **Model healthy boundaries**: When leaders visibly take and respect time off, it normalizes the behavior.
3. **Focus on outcomes, not activity**: Shift performance metrics from "hours logged" to deliverables and impact.
4. **Foster open dialogue**: Create channels for employees to voice concerns about workload or burnout without fear of reprisal.
Quiet vacationing isn't just a millennial problem—it's a signal. When employees feel compelled to deceive rather than request time off, it reflects a workplace where rest is treated as a liability rather than a necessity.
As remote and hybrid work continue to blur the lines between presence and productivity, the companies that thrive will be those that build trust, not surveillance. Because in the end, employees don't need to hide their vacations—they need to feel safe taking them.