We’ve talked about the admittedly transient boost the World Cup could give to the UK economy, but there are those who think there is a big downside. According to a survey by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), employers fear they could lose £1bn in lost working hours.
We’ve talked about the admittedly transient boost the World Cup could give to the UK economy, but there are those who think there is a big downside. According to a survey by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), employers fear they could lose £1bn in lost working hours.
Just over half of employers surveyed were worried about staff being distracted by online coverage of the World Cup. On average they expect to lose 2.34 hours per person in productivity (although it could be that it will displace other surfing online in office hours). About half of employers also feared conversations about football would divert employees’ attention (but at other times they might well talk about club football). Two in five suspected staff would take unauthorised time off to watch games which suggests a high level of trust in their workers.
The construction industry is particularly worried about the effects. Total output for construction work has been about 3 per cent lower in those years in which the tournament is played. Builders merchants also suffer because less DIY work is done. Effects have been particularly severe when the games have been played in a different time zone meaning that important ones could start at midday in the UK. Apart from the issue of workers bunking off down the pub, the industry has also expressed concern about workers spending evenings in the pub and feeling the worse for wear the next day.
An alternative argument is that management should lighten up and use the occasion to boost morale and bond the workforce together. Indeed, forty-four per cent of employers in the CMI survey saw the morale-boosting potentia of the tournament and more than a third believed it could improve working relationships. The CMI is encouraging employers to install screens to allow staff to watch key games. Staff might then work more effectively for the rest of the day, while another approach being used by some firms is flexible working hours.
The real losers may be the clubs whose valuable assets, the players, are at risk and we will look at this and the question of insuring them in a future article.