According to recent research from the specialist professional recruitment consultancy, Robert Walters, almost 25 per cent of UK-based marketers are not using their full annual leave entitlement.

The ‘Career Lifestyle’ survey revealed a substantial 27 per cent admitted to not using their annual leave allowance last year; with the most prevalent reasons cited being that there was ‘too much pressure’ to complete ongoing projects; as well as feeling they were not allowed to take time off work; and a further 10 per cent fearing they would fall behind with their work.

B2B Sales and Marketing manager at Robert Walters, Stuart MacSween, said: “Across a range of industries, reviews of digital marketing strategies in particular have been common, as businesses look to keep pace with changing technology.”

He continued: “As a result, marketing professionals are often under pressure to deliver these projects to tight deadlines as employers look to take advantage of new developments in digital and online platforms for marketing purposes. However, if these projects are not managed effectively it is easy for marketing teams to become overworked, struggling to take their allocation of annual leave. In turn, this may leave staff running the risk of suffering from burnout, lowering productivity and staff morale.”

Surprisingly, just 16 per cent of marketing companies offered some form of compensation to their employees for any extra hours worked, either through the mediums of time off in lieu or overtime pay.