Major Firms Allow Remote Work For World Cup: The Business Case For This Unexpected Exception
Against the widespread corporate trend of pushing employees back to full-time in-office work, leading financial companies are carving out a surprising flexible exception — and it all ties to the North American World Cup.
Internal memos reviewed by the Financial Times show that both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have notified staff they can approve remote work requests on World Cup match days. The policy targets employees in busy host cities such as New York City, where match crowds are projected to severely disrupt daily commutes as hundreds of thousands of fans flood the region to attend games.
Per FT reporting, JPMorgan’s flexible arrangement applies to all of its employees across the three North American countries hosting the tournament: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. When contacted by Fast Company, Goldman Sachs clarified it encourages staff to proactively talk with their managers about potential commute disruptions during the competition. JPMorgan, meanwhile, noted its office locations are operating as normal, but the bank is alerting potentially impacted staff that they can coordinate with managers for alternative work arrangements if needed.
Citigroup has adopted a similar approach, according to a person familiar with the bank’s internal policies. The majority of Citi’s workforce already operates on a hybrid schedule, and the firm encourages hybrid employees to reach out to their managers if their commute will be disrupted by match-related congestion.
The massive month-long soccer tournament is running through July 19 across 16 host cities in North America, 11 of which are located in the U.S.: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, the New York/New Jersey metro area, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle. Over 3.5 weeks, 48 teams will compete in 100 total matches.
Organizers estimate 5 billion people around the world will tune in to matches or attend in person, averaging more than 128 million daily viewers. But a new workforce survey predicts fan excitement will come with significant productivity losses for global employers.
As previously reported by Fast Company, a study from workforce management software firm UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) found that 27% of employees already plan to miss work during the tournament, either by arriving late, leaving early, or skipping a full day of work entirely. Another 22% expect to show up to work tired after watching matches, 11% admit they will likely come in hungover from watch parties, and 14% plan to secretly stream matches while on the clock.
In total, these disruptions could cost global employers up to $17 billion, with $11.7 billion of that loss falling on U.S. companies alone. Allowing employees to work remotely during impacted days is a proactive move for firms to cut these projected costs and recover lost productivity.
