Catherwood LibraryILR School

In light of the highly anticipated inauguration of President Barack Obama, many offices are facing employee absences. In anticipation of this occurrence, some firms canceled meetings, set up places to watch the events at work, or even closed shop entirely for the day. Experts predicted that two times as many employees would be absent from work than usual today, which is only further compounded by the holiday yesterday. Companies are also expecting that employees who do show may be distracted by watching the events online. New York City even asked employees to avoid overloading the computer network, recommending that they view the event through the city's intranet rather than external sites. All in all employers are generally prepared to deal with the expected absences, particularly since many employees asked for the day off well in advance.