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Summarised by Centrist
New Zealand’s business leaders, economists and politicians debating whether the country’s extended summer break is a cultural perk or an economic drag.
Critics describe it as an “unofficial shutdown” stretching well beyond Christmas and New Year.
Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges says many firms slow sharply from December and do not properly resume until late February or even March. “There is a view that the country shuts down not just for Christmas and New Year but in many cases all the way through to March,” Bridges said.
Even when staff are technically back, he says, many are “easing into it”, giving rise to the familiar phrase “mad March” when work finally ramps up again.
New Zealanders are entitled to four weeks’ paid annual leave, but many cluster most of it around summer. Critics say this leads to weeks of lower output before and after the break, with knock-on effects for cash flow, particularly for small and self-employed businesses.
Others defend the long pause. Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who plans to take three weeks off, summed it up simply: “It’s good.”
Massey University’s Christoph Schumacher asked whether holidays could be structured better, with teams rotating so “not everything shuts down”.
Still, hospitality leaders warn that trimming the summer break could hurt domestic tourism and the huge seasonal industries reliant on the summer workflows. Economists point out that customer-dependent businesses keep working – it’s just the professional classes and public service that go mentally AWOL.
Bridges concedes, “We all feel entitled to our long Kiwi summer, me included.”
