Snow Days Used For Job Searching

Posted by Heidi Schwartz Businessman with snow shovel.

It turns out that while most companies shut down in the northeast for Winter Storm Juno, many people were still thinking about work—just not their 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″ of snow, according to The Weather Channel—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%. And nearby to New York City, in White Plains, job searches spiked by 72% week-over-week.

Conversely, for those who had the day off and did get the predicted amount of snow—in Massachusetts cities like Boston and Worcester or places like Rhode Island—it appears the hunt for a new job took a backseat to digging out. Job searches in Providence, RI 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, highlighting how teachers who ordinarily would be standing in front of a classroom took to Monster to see how they might find something better. Searches for “teacher” increased 173% and it seems people don’t want to go back into the office 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—searches for “hotel industry” were down 39%.

“It’s quite interesting to see how a weather event like this can impact job searches so significantly,” said Joanie Courtney, Senior Vice President, Market Development at Monster.