From Business Insider · Ben Shimkus · · 1m 50s
Why your coworker is calling in sick this November
Three major video game releases in November are driving a spike in PTO requests, with some workers choosing to call in sick instead.
In brief
Three major video game releases in November are driving a spike in PTO requests, with some workers choosing to call in sick instead. Three major video game releases in November are causing a surge in time-off requests, with some workers calling in sick rather than using PTO. Originally reported by Business Insider.
Three games, one month
November brings three major video game releases. World of Warcraft: Forever debuted Wednesday. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launched Thursday. Grand Theft Auto 6 arrives November 19 after a thirteen year buildup.
What these games are
World of Warcraft: Forever is a subscription-based version of the massively multiplayer game set in a revamped original fantasy world.
GTA 6 is a singularity event
Omar Soliman, cofounder of College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving, told Business Insider: "I can't think of an entertainment vehicle or video game that's captured the zeitgeist of the young generation like this one."
“I can't think of an entertainment vehicle or video game that's captured the zeitgeist of the young generation like this one.”
PTO requests are spiking
Workforce management tech company UKG said time-off requests for the week of GTA 6's release are up roughly twenty percent compared to the same week in previous years.
The gender gap in gaming time off
In a Zety survey of one thousand forty American workers, eleven percent were planning to take time off for GTA 6's release.
Some are calling in sick instead
Jasmine Escalera, a Ph.D.career expert, said PTO is meant to help workers replenish and feel good.
“PTO is meant to replenish, relax, and do whatever you need to do to feel good.”
Players are openly planning time off
The official World of Warcraft account posted on X asking if followers were taking November 4 off.Nearly sixty percent of respondents said yes.
“Are you taking November 4 off?”
Some employers are embracing it
James Killick, a media relations manager at UK-based Raptor PR, requested November 19 off months ago to play GTA 6.
“It's something to celebrate.”
The headline
Three major video game releases in November are causing a surge in time-off requests, with some workers calling in sick rather than using PTO.
