Olympic Watching Distracts Work, but Not Much
By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter
For managers, who scratch their heads over more misspellings or messed-up figures in reports prepared by junior workers than usual, here is the first thing to do ― check whether they have one eye on Olympic coverage online at their personal computers or at a television set tucked away in a corner of the office.
A recent survey by career.co.kr, a recruitment-specializing portal site, of 1,425 office workers showed about one third of them manage to find time to check on the latest results of Korean athletes in the ongoing Beijing Olympics. A little more than half said that they check on the game results at home or after working hours.
When asked to name more than one means of keeping up with the latest on the games and matches while working, nearly six in 10 said the Internet or television broadcasts, the survey showed.
About 50 percent got it through digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) on their mobile phones. Some 30 percent said that they kept up by joining colleagues in front of an office television set when important games are shown.
According to an IT retailer cited by Yonhap News Agency, there has so far been a 20 percent pickup in the sales of electronic gadgets with DMB services since the lead-up to the Summer Games.
About 40 percent of those watching games during office hours, said that news about victories of Korean athletes made them more productive, while 16 percent cited them as a source of distraction. The remainder didn't think it affected them.
Most managers and employers surveyed said they don't take action. More than half of 172 corporate personnel supervisors said that they give ``tacit'' approval to the employees watching Olympics.
About 20 percent give open permission for their employees to watch, while a mere 16 percent forbade it.
In some workplaces, managers discussed whether to allow TV watching during the Olympics after finding laxity in the level of employees performances but decided not to ban TV watching. ``We fear that a ban will distract the employees,'' one manager said on condition of anonymity.
Some of firms, however, have gone the extra mile ― providing a venue for employees to gather to watch the games, hosting after-hours get-togethers or offering snacks during the games.
Few companies reported absenteeism or sleeping at work because of only an hour time difference between Korea and China. During important games such as the World Cup held many time zones away, rising absenteeism is not uncommon because workers stay up late to watch them and can't get up on time for work.