SINGAPORE, July 27 — A growing number of Singaporeans feel so deprived of vacations that they are willing to take a pay cut to get more time off, a survey by Brand Expedia has found.

The survey, published on Thursday (July 25), said that Singapore is rising up the ranks of countries in terms of "vacation deprivation”. Nearly eight in 10 Singaporeans, or 77 per cent, would accept less pay to get one more day’s leave, it found.

And more than half the respondents stay connected to work through their devices even when they are on holidays. More than half of the Singaporeans surveyed also take fewer days of leave than their annual entitlement.

Singapore is now ranked sixth out of the 19 markets in terms of vacation deprivation, Brand Expedia’s 2018 Vacation Deprivation Study noted. It was ranked seventh in the 2017 survey. India is the most vacation-deprived among the 19.

Brand Expedia, which offers platforms for booking hotels, holidays and activities, and has a financial interest in promoting holidays, surveyed 11,000 full-time working adults across 19 markets, including 300 respondents from Singapore.

Not enough leave days

The study found widespread dissatisfaction among full-time workers here over how often they get to take a break.

More than six in 10 Singaporeans said that they are deprived of vacations. This is up from 57 per cent in 2017, and just 41 per cent in 2016.

Almost 90 per cent of Singaporeans surveyed felt that they deserve more vacation days. This is a 12 percentage-point jump from 2017.

Most vacation-deprived in the world

Vacation deprivation is growing across the globe but the Asia-Pacific region stood out as the most vacation-deprived in the world.

Seven in 10 of the most vacation-deprived markets came from the Asia Pacific, including Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. France, Italy and the United States make up the rest.

India and Thailand registered the biggest jumps in vacation-deprivation sentiment, of 15 percentage points and 14 percentage points respectively, from 2017 to the latest study.

Why they are not on holiday

Delving deeper into the vacation behaviour of Singaporeans, the study found that a key reason for not taking time off for holidays is because the boss says no.

Being unable to get time off work emerged as the top reason, at 39 per cent, for not going on a holiday.

The next most common reason, at 30 per cent, was a wish to save up time for a long holiday.

About one in five respondents, or 22 per cent, said that they could not afford a holiday.

Unable to leave work behind

Many Singaporeans who do manage to go on a holiday still stay connected to work, the survey found.