NCAA March Madness costs employers big
This is the one time of the year that I’ll willingly log on to ESPN.com. And if I’m sucked into the NCAA basketball tournament, it’s a pretty safe bet that March Madness is striking offices hard – especially now that CBS offers free online viewing.
Nearly everyone in my department was happy to plop down $10 and fill out a bracket… but that’s not all the tournament is costing employers.
According to a report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, companies will see a significant drop-off in productivity during March Madness. The company estimates that for every 13.5 minutes that workers spend on the Internet watching games, the cost to employers in lost wages alone exceeds $237 million. In the 16 days of tournament, the total price tag could climb to $3.8 billion.
That’s something to think about before you let your work take a backseat to the game.
