March 16 marks the beginning of the end of the NCAA college basketball season. A global outplacement firm did some number crunching and concluded that March Madness could cost employers as much as $1.9 billion (yes billion) in productivity. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., the firm conducting this study, based its calculations on the number of workers likely to be caught up in madness; the estimated time spent considering and completing brackets; the time spent watching or streaming games online; as to January 2015’s average earnings of $24.78 per hour (per the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Of course, this lost productivity figure depends in large part on the number of employees participating in March Madness bracket pools. The range of was estimated as low as 9.9 million people and as high as 77.7 million people. Thus, the potential cost to employers in terms of wages paid to “unproductive/nonworking” employees could range from $367.7 million to $1.9 billion.
Lost wage value notwithstanding, the CEO of Challenger, Gray offered that banning workplace pools or blocking access to streaming games online is not the right solution. Permitting it may be preferred given how ‘ingrained in the national fabric” March Madness is, along with the betting, bracket-building and bonding that comes along with it. Stopping it, or attempting to, would very likely have negative consequences. In addition to being unrealistic, employee morale and loyalty could take a bigger nose-dive as compared to the short term productivity dip. So, for those employers who understand very well the words in this blog post, welcome it, let it stay, and use it as an opportunity to keep your employees happy.