Canadians are far from sick of shopping, and some employees might come down with a case of “shopping fever” in the coming days.
An IPG Mediabrands study finds that employers can expect around one million calls from staff claiming to be under the weather on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday as they plan to hit stores and keyboards.
Add another 4.1 million vacation days being planned and that adds up to 5.1 million lost work days as Canadians bail on work to shop on the Friday or Monday, which coincides with American Thanksgiving.
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And if employees do show up for work, many might not be very productive. About 2.3 million Canadians plan to shop during work hours on Cyber Monday (Dec. 1).
With more than $13.4 billion set to be spent in total, 49% (16.3 million) of Canadians plan to shop on either Black Friday, Cyber Monday or both, at 29%.
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“Clearly, Canadians are planning ahead and making time for what is fast becoming the most popular shopping weekend of the year,” says Chris Herlihey, vice-president of research at IPG Mediabrands. “Black Friday and Cyber Monday are making Boxing Day less relevant. And, it may feel more like ‘Slack Friday’ to many employers year after year.”