Canadians value more vacation over pay hikes

Another story from CBC.

“An international report Wednesday found that Canadian workers would rather get an additional week’s paid vacation than be paid more to do their jobs.

The Mercer consultancy report says 20 per cent of Canadians polled said the job perk they would most like to receive from employers is another week’s worth of paid vacation.

Canadians were the only country in the survey — which included workers from the U.S., Britain, France, China and Brazil — who said they valued time off over more money.

An extra $500 in salary was the second-most requested option, at 18 per cent.

“These results were fairly similar across our random sample of employees. However, we did observe some differences in employees’ preferences depending on age, life stage and income level,” Mercer said.

Workers between ages 25 and 44 tended to prefer time off, whereas those earning less than $20,000 a year and those over 45 preferred the financial boost.

“We recommend that all employers revisit the benefits they offer their employees,” Mercer said. “This research can provide direction in terms of the perceived value employees place on [them].””