A new survey alleges that the biggest loser on Sunday’s series finale of Game of Thrones may be America’s bosses.
According to Business Wire , a new survey released by the Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated in conjunction with The Harris Poll revealed that 27.2 million Americans say that the finale of Thrones “will potentially have a direct impact on their work obligations.”
The survey says that the 27.2 million Americans who answered yes to that question will “either miss work completely, arrive late, work remotely, be less productive than usual, or experience another impact on work obligations.”
The Thrones survey is officially called the “Absence is Coming survey” because more than 10 million people say they will skip work as a result of the finale, although that includes some who work Sunday nights and will beg for time off to watch the show.
In addition, the survey asked respondents which Game of Thrones character they would most like to have as a manager, and 28 percent of those watching this season chose Jon Snow – a character who, you may remember, was once stabbed by his own underlings in the Night’s Watch. Tyrion Lannister came in second followed by Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister. The survey, however, was taken between May 7 and 9, prior to last Sunday’s episode. A survey taken later may very well have changed Daenerys’ placement.
There are some caveats that apply to this survey. The answers are all given as to what respondents say they will do, and they may not follow through on what they said they would do.
Also, productivity surveys are famously inexact. Every year, per The Inquisitr , there are dozens of news stories about massive losses in productivity during the annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament, even though the reasoning behind such surveys was debunked many years ago.
Oups. Some 27.2 million workers will be late and distracted, costing $3.3 billion in lost productivity, management firm survey predicts… https://t.co/FnK59tkAI1
— Fabien Amoretti (@FabienAmoretti) May 17, 2019
And besides, there’s no reason to think that all of the employees wasting their time talking and thinking about Game of Thrones , or even re-watching it, will be doing so instead of working or doing those things in place of the usual time-wasting that takes place in a typical workday.
Joyce Maroney, the executive director of the Workforce Institute, had some advice for employers.
“What do we say to the God of Absence? Not today – or at least organizations can if they embrace, not avoid, cultural phenomenon like the Game of Thrones series finale. Empower employees with flexible schedules and the ability to request time off or swap shifts from anywhere, at any time so they can enjoy moments that matter in their lives, and don’t be shy to use pop culture common ground to build camaraderie with employees and managers.”
