As March Madness arrives, distracted workers around the country will be paying more attention to their brackets than their work, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, NBC News reported.
The firm estimates that more than 50.5 million American workers, or 20 percent, could participate in office pools this year. That's up 5 percentage points from last year and 9 points from 2014.
The loss of productivity in the opening week of March Madness could cost employers nearly $4 billion in lost revenue, according to the report. And each hour of the workday wasted on building brackets or watching games will cost employers $1.3 billion.
