The 2014 football World Cup is likely to hit productivity of employees across the Middle East as half of all employees plan to stay up to watch late-night matches involving their favorite teams, said a survey.

Although none of the GCC countries have qualified for the tournament, according to the survey 89 per cent of employees in the region plan to watch at least some of the games, according to the survey conducted by online recruitment firm GulfTalent.

The tournament, due to be played in Brazil from June 12 to July 13, will be aired live in the Middle East each day between 8pm to 4am in the UAE and Oman (7pm to 3am in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon).

GulfTalent’s survey asked employees across the Middle East how they plan to balance the watching of late night games with their work commitments the next day.

About one in ten said that they would go to work late in order to catch up on sleep, while a similar number will take a day of annual leave after watching late night matches, revealed the survey.

About three per cent would report sick so they do not have to go to work. About one-third of respondents said that they will cut on their sleep to make it to work on time, it added.

When comparing to different job categories, IT professionals were found more likely than others to come to work late or call in sick following a late night match.

HR professionals in comparison were the most likely to take a day of annual leave, while marketing professionals were more likely to simply cut on their sleep and come to work tired.

Some survey participants noted that the second half of the tournament will coincide with Ramadan, when many employees in the Middle East work reduced hours, allowing them to sleep after work and be up in time for the games.

Asked if they would spend any time on the games at work, about one third of respondents indicated that they would be spending some of their work time discussing the games with their colleagues, or watching the highlights on the Internet, the suvey added.

Employer Reactions

Some employers expressed concern about the potential drop in productivity resulting from the games. One manager from an oil and gas company said: “I have 50 employees in my team. Most of them are football fans and this will really affect our productivity this month.”

Others were more relaxed or even optimistic about the impact of the games. Commenting on the issue, a manager from a leading Saudi catering firm said “Staff productivity is highly dependent on emotions. We can properly transform these emotions during this time in a positive manner to increase productivity. So I would allow my staff time to watch their favorite matches.”

The survey found that managers who were themselves inclined to watch the games were more likely to give flexibility to their team to watch them.

Some managers said that they plan to use the World Cup as an opportunity for team building and would organise interesting competitions related to World Cup in their office, the survey found.

International Comparison

The threat to productivity is not confined to the Middle East. According to a survey involving 100 UK business leaders by telecoms and IT services provider Coms, the World Cup could result in a loss to British business of 250 million working hours.

This would comprise a rise in absence levels, late arrivals, poor performance due to lack of sleep or discussions at the workplace. A separate survey by employment law specialists ELAS puts the cost of the World Cup to Britain’s employers at £4 billion ($6.7 billion) in lost productivity.

According to GulfTalent, the level of productivity loss for Middle East companies may not be as severe as their European counterparts, as all the games fall outside working hours for people working a day shift.

In addition, there is negligible consumption of alcoholic beverages, a main driver of World Cup related sicknesses. However, companies with poor or inadequate guidelines are still likely to suffer a disproportionate amount of absenteeism. Only a quarter of survey respondents said their companies had a specific employee policy in respect of the World Cup, it added.

The research was based on an online survey of 18,000 professionals based across ten countries in the Middle East and employed in different industries.

GulfTalent is a leading online recruitment portal in the Middle East covering all sectors and job categories. It is used by over 4 million professionals across the region for finding top career opportunities.-TradeArabia News Service