We all know of the extra pressure which is being put on staff in these difficult economic times with longer hours, a heavier workload and fewer resources.
But less attention has been paid to the managers who also have to shoulder the burden of helping to keep a company going under difficult circumstances.
Office space in London has been occupied for longer than ever this year with staff working late and managers desperately trying to keep on top of things.
In fact the situation is so bad that a new survey has found that a tenth of managers in London did not take their annual leave this year.
The findings by LondonlovesJobs are not referring to one or two days of leave which have not been used up, but the entirety of a holiday allowance.
That means no time for a family vacation or romantic long weekend break, which presents a picture of an unhealthy work life balance – one weighted very much towards work.
500 managers all based in the capital were interviewed for the research, which saw mounting pressure not providing the opportunity for them to take time off.
Looking more carefully at the findings, the situation is even more drastic as 70 per cent of London managers will use less than a quarter of their entitlement.
Holidays and time off are necessary in order to allow people to recharge their batteries no matter at what level of employment they work.
Extra money on a pay cheque does not constitute a trade off for taking time off, as everyone in the country is entitled to 28 days off if they work a standard five day week.
Despite the law there may well be pressure from above to encourage managers not to take their allowance, with some bosses simply not being able to envisage how to get everything done if they go away.
Stress is a growing problem in the workplace and by not taking their annual leave many managers may be storing up problems for themselves in the future.
Katie Leaver, editor of LondonlovesJobs, said: “Unfortunately this is a sad reflection on the pressures faced by private sector workers in today’s economic climate. Not only are companies struggling to stay afloat, their employees are suffering as a direct result.”
