British businesses are set to lose almost £100,000,000 for every day England is in the World Cup, according to figures released by the UK's leading provider of absence management.
Active Health Partners has estimated, through using workplace absenteeism data captured during previous key sporting events, that for every game England plays in the first round of the World Cup, employee absence will increase by 20 per cent. This figure can realistically be expected to increase if England progresses through the rounds, resulting in a significant loss to UK industry.
"When monitoring workplace absenteeism levels it is apparent that they increase dramatically during key sporting events in the calendar", said Active Health Partners' Gerry Callaghan.
"In the case of the 2005 Ashes, employee absenteeism rose by 20 per cent at the start of the tournament, and for the final test match it had increased by 30 per cent! Working from these figures we can safely assume that these levels of absenteeism will be mirrored -- if not overtaken -- during the World Cup, which will result in a substantial loss to British businesses. As the games in the first round will all be played in the evening or at the weekend, the increase in absence will be noted most among shift and evening workers and workplace absence will predictably increase the next day as a result of employees celebrating -- or commiserating -- the game results."
"If absenteeism rises to 25 per cent, which is a conservative estimate, then businesses can expect to loose an additional £98,788,923 per day. As the tournament progresses and hopefully England makes it to the final, we can expect this figure to rise to 40 per cent."
As Active Health Partners offers a round-the-clock service, it has bought two wide-screen televisions so its staff can watch the games at work and therefore won't be tempted to call in sick! |
