March Madness and the Workplace

March 20 may be the official beginning of Spring, but this year it also signifies the beginning of one of the greatest sports rituals: March Madness.

The annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is one of the most watched, followed and gambled on sporting events of the year. Over the past two decades, it’s taken on a life of its own, particularly in the Internet era where the plethora of available information about the tournament – right down the live streaming online broadcasts that CBS now offers – has made this a nationwide spectacle.

Games on the opening two days of the tournament take place on Thursday and Friday afternoon, which many say significantly reduces productivity in the workplace. In fact, a recent AAI survey shows that one-third of the respondents will take time away from the work day to follow the tournament.

Productivity in the workplace is something that concerns all business owners. So too should the business environment that they create for their employees. It’s with this in mind that we encourage management to integrate into the work environment – not abolish – this annual sporting event.

Maybe you offer employees the chance to watch the games in the company conference room during the lunch break. Sure, when they go back to their desks, they may continue to follow the games and waste some company work time. But what’s lost in two days for productivity is almost always gained in employee morale realizing that they employer is interested in a solid work-life balance.

IT Leading the Way Among Fastest Growing Jobs

Another positive sign for IT staffing was unveiled last week, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics unveiled its predictions for the fastest growing jobs. The data, which appeared on Boston.com’s Careers page, showed IT-related positions occupying five of the top 25 slots.

Leading the way is the network systems and data communications analyst position. Data shows that there will be a whopping 53.4 percent growth in this field by 2016. Boston.com cites the need for businesses to continually implement new technologies as the reason for this growth.

Other IT jobs that ranked in the top 25 for predicted growth between now and 2016 include computer applications software engineers (44.6% growth), computer systems analysts (29% growth), database administrators (28.6% growth) and computer software & systems software engineers (28.2% growth).

All of this is consistent with what we’ve predicted and what we’re seeing at AAI. We have a high demand for programmers, particularly .NET programmers, and still find that there’s a shortage of qualified candidates to current openings.

To read the complete list of the fastest growing jobs, click here.