March Madness Employee Productivity
Are you one of the more than 60 million Americans that filled out a March Madness tournament bracket at work this year? How about one of the 1.5 million employees streaming the NCAA Tournament online and on your company’s dollar? If you fall into either of these categories, you are a contributor to $1.9 billion dollars of productivity costs that business are expected to lose during March Madness this year.
This estimate was made by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., is based on the number of working Americans who are likely to be caught up in March 
Madness: the estimated time spent streaming games and filling out brackets; and average hourly earnings, which according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics is at $24.78 in January of this year.
This estimate could actually be lower now that Kentucky and Michigan State have been knocked out of the race but either way many employees will still tune in.
With all of the potential dollars wasted on a lack of productivity during March Madness the question arises: should companies prohibit workplace pools and block access to streaming sites?
The CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas says that employers shouldn’t because March Madness is a national tradition and attempting to prevent your employees might actually do more harm than good in the form of employee morale and loyalty.
So now we’re curious, have you spent any time at work filling out a bracket or streaming a game online? Don’t worry, we won’t tell.
Marty Hanan is the founder and President of ValueScope, Inc., a valuation and financial advisory firm that specializes in valuing assets and businesses and in helping business owners in business transactions and estate planning. Mr. Hanan is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has a B.S. Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago.
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