Universal targets Americans in a "vacation crisis"

I saw a commercial like that months ago. It was very clever in that it didn't mention Universal at all. It gave a website which eventually brought you to Universal.

I agreee wholeheartedly with the sentiment despite the cheesy underhanded marketing angle. :)

I wonder if American's lack of vacation time is really hurting destination resorts?

I've seen a couple of the spots. They're quite clever. I especially like the one with the mortitians, thanking the American workers for working themselves to death. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I liked the mortitian one too. Now all I have to do is get our managers to watch these commercials and apply the principles to our business. I only got to take 1/5 of my vacation time last year.

My feeling is that if you're entitled to vacation, you simply tell your boss that you're taking it. That's all there is to it. It's a part of your compensation, and regardless of whether or not you get paid extra if you don't use it, you're still not getting what you signed on for.

Not to mention those jobs that offer no paid vacation at all (like what I've been dealing with for 3 years). But that will soon be changing (and I won't be using it at Universal - sorry).

I use up ALL my vacation every year....and then some...:)

LOL, Jeff. That's all there is to it? Yeow. Let any of my 25 direct reports tell me they're taking vacation, and then not show up, instead of submitting a request and waiting for approval as dictated by policy? Let's put it this way...they'd have all the time in the world to enjoy the park of their choice! On the flip side, can't remember the last time I refused a request but I'm easy like that.

Of course, our vacation days accrue and we can carry them over monthly, yearly, whatever so no one ever loses any. I get 31 days a year and never fail to use them up!

Luckily, I work for a small firm that is pretty easy going about such things, as long as there's a decent amount of notice given... a week or two is sufficient. I hear about these places where people are expected to walk in on January 2 and have every vacation day mapped out for that year-- and it can't be changed.

Maybe in return these companies should also be expected to tell all their employees on January 2 who'll be laid off and on what day, what days they'll be expected to work overtime, all the deadlines they plan on ramming into all year long, all the weekends they plan on having employees come into work, what day they plan on being bought out by another company, what days they plan on reducing or cutting other benefits, when management will have finally screwed things up enough that the entire company gets flushed down the commode, etc., etc.

"Office Space" anyone?

That should be required viewing for anyone in the corporate world. It hits home oh so well haha.

I'm so glad that I finally have a decent paying job that caters more to my lifestyle. Sure, I work every weekend and over nite, but I don't miss out on the important things. Working 4 ten hour days gives me 3 days off a week (4 when we have a holiday), and I get 10 hours of vacation time every month, and 12 sick hours a month.

I like the commercials. It points people in the right direction, IMO. Everyone needs vacations.

Welcome to 4 months ago.