Bosses have been warned to expect millions of employees to work from home or call in sick today to watch England take on Denmark in the Euros. HR chiefs are predicting what has been dubbed “Slope-off Thursday”, with the 5pm kick-off prompting many football fans to avoid going into the office or take annual leave.
Some 14 million more of the nation’s workforce are predicted to work from home and a further three million have already decided to take the day off as a holiday, according to BrightHR, which monitors absence among more than a million employees across more than 50,000 UK companies. Holiday rates are up 123 per cent for Thursday and 148 per cent for the following day, the company said.
Meanwhile, a third of England’s workforce are expected to clock off early to make it to the pub in time for kick-off, or watch from their desks on company time, costing the economy a predicted £208 million based on Office of National Statistics (ONS) daily productivity data trends.
Alan Price, the chief executive of BrightHR, told the Telegraph: “With the match kicking off at 5pm, it looks like ‘Slope-off Thursday’ with staff ducking out early to get to the pub in time.
“Some will claim they’ve fallen sick during the day so they can watch the game, many more will work from home so they don’t miss it, and holiday requests are up sharply as well. Productivity will also take a nosedive among staff stuck at work and following the match.
“The game will cost the economy big time. Just one hour’s lost work across millions of employees costs well into the millions. The best advice for bosses to keep staff on side is to let them watch the game at work and make up lost working time later.”
As supporters pack into pubs on Thursday evening, the hospitality industry is expecting a significant boost in sales, with the BBPA estimating an extra five million pints to be sunk by Britons – worth an extra £24 million in sales for businesses.
“The Euros are already providing a huge uplift in extra trade for pubs as football fans know that there is no better place to watch live than down their local,” Emma McClarkin, the Chief Executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said.
“For this England v Denmark the latest BBPA figure show that between four to five million extra pints will be enjoyed worth up to a potential £24 million for the sector.”
TV viewing records are also set to be broken on Thursday, with 15 million BBC viewers, the biggest tea-time TV ratings of the year, expected across BBC One and iPlayer, analysis of previous tournaments’ England audiences shows.
“England daytime games have surprisingly high ratings. People will make the effort to watch, taking time off work, and kids will make sure they are home from school in time,” TV ratings provider Overnights.tv said.