URR Paid Holidays and Vacation Time

Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals

While the average number of paid holidays for employees in university relations and recruiting functions is fairly consistent, the average number of vacation days ranges more widely throughout the firms that participated in NACE’s 2016 Recruiting Compensation Benchmark survey.

The number of paid holidays ranges between nine and 11 across company size (see Figure 1), industry (see Figure 2), and region (see Figure 3).

However, vacation time ranges more widely with the differences based mostly on the size of the company. The smaller firms in the survey tend to have slightly more generous vacation time allotments than do the larger firms.

For example, the average number of vacation days for firms with 500 or fewer employees is 16 days after the first year of service and 20 days after five years of service compared with 12 days after one year and 16 days after five years for firms with more than 10,000 employees. (See Figure 4.)

Vacation time varies by industry, with higher numbers of vacation days coming from employers in the energy, trade, and finance industries. (See Figure 5.)

By region, the average number of vacation days across years of service tends to be higher in the West. (See Figure 6.)

NACE’s 2016 Recruiting Compensation Benchmark survey was conducted among NACE employer members during the summer of 2016. The survey was open from July 25, 2016, until October 17, 2016. It was sent to 945 employer organizations and responses were received from 174 member companies—an 18.4 percent response rate. The 2016 Recruiting Compensation Benchmark Report is available in MyNACE to members who participated or whose organizations participated in the survey. An executive summary of the 2016 Recruiting Compensation Benchmark Report is also available.

Figure 1: Average Number of Paid Holidays by Company Size

Company Size	Average Number of Paid Holidays
500 or less	9
501 - 2,500	10
2,501 - 10,000	11
More than 10,000	10