Get set for the greatest show on earth
Its about to begin and its time to get wildly passionate about
it. If you dont know what we at JobStreet.com are talking about,
hey, where have you been?
Its the World Cup, buddy, the one thatll be starting in Korea and
Japan. What will you be doing? Act as if nothing extraordinary is
happening, or will you join soccer fans worldwide to cheer on their
favourite teams? Its the World Cup, buddy, the one thatll be
starting in Korea and Japan. What will you be doing? Act as if
nothing extraordinary is happening, or will you join soccer fans
worldwide to cheer on their favourite teams? And being Asians, we
dare say that some are prepared to lose the shirts off their backs
too! Not that we condone such gambling activities, but Asians
already have such reputations worldwide.
What we know for certain is that in workplaces around the globe,
productivity will take a tumble. In fact, the great World Cup
showdown between bosses and soccer has already begun. But it will
be no contest, really. We already know who will win, hands
down.
At the last World Cup in France, for instance, dozens of financial
traders in the Royal Bank of Scotlands London dealing rooms
slipped away from their desks, went out the door and vanished. In
Sao Paulo, Brazil, the phones fell silent, email volume fell to a
trickle and most of the workers went home.
More than one billion people worldwide will be following the
televised image of a small white soccer ball as it bounces around a
field in Korea and Japan. From Stockholm to Singapore, workers will
be calling in sick (its called World Cup flu), slipping out for
two-hour breaks or rigging their personal computers to flash sports
news.
It is estimated that one-third of male employees are planning to
take time off to watch the games over the next few weeks, compared
with 8% of women. Over half of those will take paid leave, one in
four will take advantage of flexitime, and 16% will take unpaid
leave. Around 3% will call in sick.
In countries where the games are broadcast live in the middle of
the night - Asians are lucky this time: well get to watch the
games on prime time - companies are preparing for a sleep-deprived
work force. During the 1994 Cup finals, industrial production fell
so sharply in China that the government media requested that
workers stop sleeping late.
In South America, they are already preparing for a pyjama party.
The huge time zone difference means that the action in Korea and
Japan takes place in the South American small hours. The earliest
kick off time is 1.30am and the latest, 8.30am.
In Argentina, Diego Maradona is coming to the rescue. The man who
once got the Argentines out of their seats now has the task of
getting them out of their beds. Their soccer hero has filmed a
commercial in which he plays an elfin-type figure who wanders round
ringing on doorbells to make sure everyone wakes up in time to
watch Argentina. Thats like a kind of footballing Father
Christmas.
In Ecuador, an economist in Quito is estimating that nationwide
productivity in June will be inversely related to their countrys
success in Asia, projecting that output during first-round games
will be roughly half that of a regular workday. "If we go to the
second round, people will work 25% of the day. And if we get to the
final -- hard to imagine as that is -- the country will be
paralysed," he says.
