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SALT LAKE CITY - March Madness is upon us. Three local teams are in "the dance" and that means worker productivity is likely to go down.
Consulting group Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimated last year companies would see $1.7 billion in lost productivity, as many workers spend 10 minutes a day or more watching the NCAA games and tracking brackets.
The Utes will open the NCAA tournament against Arizona on Friday in Miami. BYU is headed to Philadelphia for the opening round against Texas A&M on Thursday. And Utah State will play Marquette on Friday in Boise.
BYU and Utah State both are scheduled to play mid-morning, meaning the potential impact to local workplaces is significant.
Bill Ernest says it's hard to focus. "It's a lot of distraction during work," he said.
"It's very distracting because it's totally available," said another man, named Chris.
The statistics are amazing. Legal or not in their states , millions of people are expected to fill out brackets for pools.
Estimates in past years have been that March Madness means anywhere from $1 billion to $4 billion in lost productivity. Part of the problem for companies is that games are now streamed online, meaning employees can just minimize the game when the boss walks by.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
