Ever felt like you just need a break but never quite get around to taking one? Well, it turns out, you\u2019re not alone. Australians are heading into this summer sitting on one of the biggest holiday stockpiles the country has ever seen\u2014more than 209 million days of unused annual leave. Yeah, you read that right. That’s a lot of time off people are just\u2026 holding onto. So, what does this mean for Aussie workers and the broader economy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s hard to deny the effect that the pandemic had on our work habits. For many of us, lockdowns meant staying home, working remotely, or simply not working at all for a while. As the years passed, we all started building up a huge stash of annual leave days\u2014days that were supposed to be used for, well, taking time off, but instead became just another thing we put on the backburner. But here\u2019s the kicker: people are still sitting on that leave, and it\u2019s adding up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to data from Roy Morgan, Aussies have more annual leave than ever before. The number peaked at 216 million days earlier in 2025 before edging back slightly to 209 million days by September, details Yahoo Finance<\/a>. That\u2019s a lot of holidays we\u2019ve earned but haven\u2019t used. The question is: why are we still holding onto it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n