REGINA – With every save and every chance for Canada, there was no doubt, work took a back seat to hockey on Friday.
“We shut the job right down,” said one patron at Press Box Sports Bar in Regina.
“We’re on lunch,” said another, motioning with air quotes.
Not everyone had to skip out on the office for Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey semifinal victory over the United States.
At Dilawri Acura, a Regina car dealership, the game was almost as popular as the vehicles.
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“People are coming in, asking for some information and watching the game,” said Luis Rodriguez, a salesperson. “Someone yells, and it’s like, ‘What’s going on?'”
Even in the Global Regina newsroom, work was paused once the puck hit the ice.
Digital media firms suggest the cost of watching the Olympics at work can top $1-billion, but the distraction can prove to be a positive.
University of Regina marketing professor Lisa Watson took time away from work, and the game, to tell Global News that allowing employees to watch Olympic events actually helps keep them engaged.
“What’s entirely inappropriate, and when I think you run into productivity problems, is when you force your employees to lie to you and pretend they’re not (streaming the game), or take that sick day when they’re not really sick,” Watson said.
The field manager at Harris Rebar told his staff to take the time – they watched the game together.
“It’s a morale booster,” Bruce Cooper said after the game. “It’s good to get together with the guys when we have the opportunity.”
If they weren’t allowed, some workers say they would have played hooky anyways.
Luckily, for most, Canada will play for gold on a Sunday.
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