Workers follow student lead and look for ‘gap year’ adventure

Increasing numbers of UK workers are taking a “grown-up gap year”, research reveals.

As many as one in seven of 2,000 professionals polled by YouGov had already left their day jobs to go travelling, while more than 75% of employees said they would consider doing so.

Trips average three to six months but sometimes stretch to a year or more, either with jobs put on hold or by resigning and looking for work whem they return, the research shows.

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Few employers outside the public sector offer career-break options as a matter of course.

Julia Middleton, chief executive of the leadership development body Common Purpose, has warned that companies will find employees voting with their feet if they do not provide more opportunities.