Vacation interruptus: Don’t let an office tech crisis ruin your getaway

Planning on taking a vacation this summer? If you're a tech manager, you may find yourself with unwanted baggage -- guilt, anxiety over how things are going in your absence or even concern about the status of your job.

That's because these days the need for time off takes a back seat to job survival and "the need to be needed," says Judy Arteche-Carr, managing director with Arteche Global Group, a management consulting company.

That situation can be particularly acute in high tech. "Businesses' perception of IT is high-availability, and that extends to managers," she explains.

IT staffers aren't the only ones feeling the vacation pinch, according to a poll conducted by CareerBuilder at the end of May. Of the 5,600 full-time U.S. workers polled, 24% reported they have had to work while their families went on vacation without them, and 16% said they gave up vacation days in the previous year because they didn't have time to use them. Read more...