Quiet vacationing: paid time off unused and undeclared, surveys say [Video]

The final slice at the office pizza party, left unclaimed until nobody’s looking; the undeclared first-class upgrade on the overnight business trip and now, the underutilized paid time off (PTO), balanced with an occasional habit of playing hooky.

As coined by Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer of the market research firm The Harris Poll, “quiet vacationing” is the latest new term to describe the prickly edges of office culture, and new data shows it’s widespread among North American workers.

Conducted by Harris in late April, the U.S. survey of 1,170 employed adults found that 78 per cent of workers didn’t use their full allotted PTO or vacation days, and an October 2022 survey by Maru Public Opinion of 811 Canadians found the same to be true for an average 71 per cent of those north of the border.

But while there may be vacation days left on the table, signs also emerged that some are taking part of that time anyway, albeit …