The World Cup and Office Productivity (Thierry)

I write this blog post with regards to the articles 'Lower productivity, more sick leave expected during the World Cup: HR experts' on channelnewsasia.com and 'Some employers fear world up' on People's daily online. The articles are addresses fears of lower office productivity during the Soccer World Cup season, as a large number of people are die hard soccer fans, who may sacrifice their sleep time just to watch the world cup, or even skip work just to watch matches.

Although many are panicking due to the possible deterioration of office productivity cause by the World Cup fever, I believe that this should not be much cause for concern. While it is now a crucial period for many companies, especially those which were greatly affected by the recent financial crisis, this is should be the time for bosses to embrace the spirit of sport, and increase their employees morale through celebration and team work. Perhaps companies could treat this one in every 4 years event just like any other festive season.

There is no point resisting the world cup fever, as employees who are die hard fans would probably find it hard to concentrate at work with soccer in their minds anyway. Bosses should embrace this season and just wait for it to pass, as it is impossible for them to totally control what their employees do, especially when they are staying up till the unholy hours of the morning just to watch soccer matches.

It is clear that employees are very serious when it comes to the world cup season. Zhang Huiqian, an editor of a Wuhan-based sports website, demonstrated his passion for the sport by holding up a sign that reads 'I will quit my job to watch the world cup.' Furthermore, a survery conducted by zhaopin.com has shown that 66 per cent of employees polled said they will stay up nights to watch the matches, while 20 per cent said they will watch the game no matter how late at night. Clearly a decrease in office productivity is inevitable, so it would be unwise for companies to try to resist the world cup fever.