March Madness is only a few days away, and employers can expect worker productivity to plummet once the annual college basketball tournament kicks off, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.In its latest estimate, the firm said it expects companies to lose $1.2 billion for every unproductive work hour during the first week of the tournament.
This estimate is based on a 2009 Microsoft survey that found about 50 million Americans participate in March Madness office pools.
If each of these workers spend just one hour filling out brackets, the outplacement firm said, the cost to companies would be $1.2 billion (based on average hourly earnings of $24.31, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures).
