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1 in 5 Workers Will Celebrate Thanksgiving With Coworkers, Finds New CareerBuilder Thanksgiving Survey

  • Nearly a quarter of employees (22 percent) have to work on Thanksgiving, up from 16 percent last year
  • Higher percentage of workers in Houston, Dallas and Miami spend the holiday with coworkers


CHICAGO – November 23, 2015 – While employees might joke about having a “work family” year-round, the expression is hitting close to home this week. One in five workers (20 percent) say they plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with coworkers either in or out of the office this year, on par with last year (19 percent). A new CareerBuilder Thanksgiving survey was conducted nationally online by Harris Poll from August 12 to September 2, 2015 and included more than 3,600 workers.

Workers Who Celebrate Thanksgiving with Coworkers By:

U.S. Markets with the Largest Economies

  • Houston: 41 percent
  • Dallas: 31 percent
  • Miami: 29 percent
  • Atlanta: 27 percent
  • Los Angeles: 20 percent
  • New York: 15 percent
  • Boston: 14 percent
  • Chicago: 13 percent
  • Philadelphia: 12 percent
  • Washington DC: 11 percent

By Region

  • South: 27 percent
  • West: 19 percent
  • Midwest: 15 percent
  • Northeast: 16 percent

By Industry

  • Health care: 28 percent
  • Sales: 22 percent
  • Manufacturing: 21 percent
  • Retail: 20 percent
  • Transportation: 20 percent

By Diverse Groups

  • African American workers: 26 percent
  • Hispanic workers: 26 percent
  • LGBT workers: 21 percent
  • Disabled workers: 20 percent
  • Asian workers: 16 percent

This compares to 19 percent of non-diverse workers (defined as white, straight, non-disabled male under 50).

By Age

  • 18-24: 18 percent
  • 25-34: 28 percent
  • 35-44: 20 percent
  • 45-54: 20 percent
  • 55+: 13 percent

Not Everyone is Home for the Holidays…

Only 14 percent of workers say they plan to take off Thanksgiving week for vacation; and 22 percent of workers said they have to work on Thanksgiving (up from 16 percent last year), with leisure and hospitality workers leading the way.

  • Leisure and hospitality: 46 percent
  • Retail: 39 percent
  • Health care: 34 percent
  • Transportation: 27 percent
  • Sales: 11 percent

Would You Rather…

When asked if they’d rather spend Thanksgiving Day with coworkers or family, 9 in 10 chose their family, but nearly 10 percent would rather spend it with neither.

  • Family: 91 percent
  • Coworkers: 1 percent
  • Neither: 8 percent

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 3,602 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, government and non-government) between August 12 and September 2, 2015. Percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions. With a pure probability sample of 3,602, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 1.63 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®

As the global leader in human capital solutions, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help companies with every step of the recruitment process from acquire to hire. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries, providing job distribution, sourcing, workflow, CRM, data and analytics in one pre-hire platform. It also operates leading job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO) and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact

Ladan Nikravan
312.698.0538 x70538
ladan.nikravan@careerbuilder.com
 http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR


CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com