Workers Used Snow Days from Blizzard to Hunt for Jobs

02.09.2015
HR & Safety

Job searching in New York, Philadelphia spiked during storm

It turns out that while most companies shut down in the North East during Winter Storm Juno, many of us were still thinking about work: just not our current jobs.

According to search data from Monster, in cities where forecasters predicted several feet of snow: but the storm ultimately delivered inches or less: people used the unexpected day off from work to look for a new job. Searches for jobs in New York City, which received less than 10 inches of snow, were up 40% over the previous Tuesday. In Philadelphia, where they expected a foot of snow and received just a dusting in some areas, job searches were up 45%. In White Plains, job searches spiked by 72% week-over-week.

Conversely, if you had the day off and did get the predicted amount of snow: in places like Boston, Worcester, and Rhode Island: it appears your hunt for a new job took a backseat to digging out. Job searches in Providence dropped 32%; Boston dropped 43%; and Worcester dropped 64%.

Beyond just geographical increases in job searches, an analysis of keyword searches on Monster also provided some interesting tidbits. For example, it seems people didn’t want to go back into the workplace at all, as searches for “remote” saw an 87% spike, while “telecommute” increased 56%.

With so many stranded travelers, the hotel industry was likely operating at full capacity. Workers there seemed unable to take time to look for a new job, with searches for “hotel industry” down 39%.

Winter weather tips from OSHA.

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