GTA VI launch could cost Israeli economy up to NIS 170 million in lost productivity

An estimated $1 billion in lost productivity for the US economy, approximately half a billion dollars in losses for the UK, and a projected NIS 75 million to NIS 170 million hit to Israel's daily economic output: These are the estimated economic costs of the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6), scheduled for Thursday, November 19.Human resources platforms, including US-based BambooHR and British company BrightHR, which monitor millions of employees across tens of thousands of businesses in real time, identified an unusually sharp increase of tens of percent in approved vacation requests for November 19 compared with the previous year.Prof. Jose García Montalvo, an economist at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, estimated in late October that approximately 1.5 million American workers, representing about 1% of the US workforce, are expected to miss work on Thursday because of the game's launch.Based on an average annual output of about $70,000 per US worker, Montalvo estimated the absences would cause a 2% decline in labor productivity, costing the US economy about $1 billion in a single day.A consumer and employment survey by British price comparison company Uswitch estimated that 2.56 million workers would miss work on the game's release date, costing the British economy an estimated £403.5 million, equivalent to about half a billion dollars.Montalvo noted that most of those expected…