Will Anyone Be Working in Indianapolis or Chicago on Monday?

The AFC and NFC Championship games are being played today in Indianapolis and Chicago, respectively. The Colts are hosting the New England Patriots in what seems like a January tradition and the feel-good New Orleans Saints travel to Chicago to take on the Bears. The hype and anticipation surrounding both games is enormous, perhaps even a little bit more so than in recent years, given the fact that everybody’s favorite team (the Saints) and everybody’s favorite quarterback (Peyton Manning) are playing against two of the largest market teams in the country in New England and Chicago. In short, these games are a big deal to many people and the outcomes will determine much of the short-term civic morale in each region.

But I have to wonder about the impact the games will have on work attendance and production in Indianapolis or Chicago on Monday. I was able to attend the Colts game in Baltimore last Saturday and I can say definitively that several hundred thousand people would have either called in sick on Sunday (if they had to work) or simply been unproductive after dragging themselves in. This includes the 70,000+ in attendance at the game and the additional few hundred thousand that watched and partied and rooted hard for the home team in and around the Baltimore area. The alcohol consumption and debauchery that surrounds tailgates and other parties for NFL playoff games notwithstanding, it is still difficult for even the most sober fan to separate herself from the drama surrounding these match-ups. It can be draining and the work, as they say, will almost certainly suffer as a result.

If I was a job seeker in one of those cities, I would make sure that my resume was submitted on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning in the hopes that someone holding the job you covet missed work because of the big game. And I would bet that most active job seekers in those areas will also be a half-step slow over the next day or two.

Tags: calling in sick, Chicago job seeker, Indianapolis job seeker, missing work

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