Do People Take Time Off for the Superbowl?

The Superbowl and Shift Trades by the Numbers

We know some people take the Monday after the Superbowl off to recover. But what if you’re scheduled to work on Superbowl Sunday?

For most hourly employees, like those that work in restaurants or retail, Superbowl Sunday isn’t a day off. If you’re scheduled to work that Sunday, but you’re also a huge fan of the San Francisco 49ers or the Kansas City Chiefs — or maybe just TV commercials — you need to find someone to cover your shift.

The Homebase mobile app does just that, allowing employees to trade shifts with manager approval. So we crunched the numbers. Do people trade shifts so someone can cover them for the Super Bowl? The answer was mixed.

In San Francisco, shift trade requests hit a six-month high on January 19th — the day the 49ers found out they were heading to the Superbowl. 

We looked at relative percentages of shift trades, rather than absolute numbers, to account for any changes in the number of Homebase customers.

In Kansas City, recent shift trades appear to be more closely tied to weather than anything else.

The peak in San Francisco on January 19th corresponds to the day San Franciscans found out the 49ers were going to the Superbowl.

But, while more workers in Kansas City than usual did request a shift trade on January 19th, the peak on the 8th lands right before an unusually warm day.

It looks like folks in Kansas City saw an unseasonably warm day headed their way and tried to get their shift covered.

Maybe Kansas City Chiefs fans already believed their team was headed to the Superbowl, and the game on January 19th wasn’t a surprise. Or maybe a warm day in January is more important than taking time off to watch The Big Game. Who wants to clock in to work when you can finally spend some time outside?

Note: If you’re interested in data about local businesses and hourly work for a story, let us know at press@joinhomebase.com.