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Managers Are More Likely Than Their Subordinates to Participate in March Madness Office Pools, Finds CareerBuilder Survey

CHICAGO – March 16, 2016 – Which workers are placing bets in March Madness pools at your office? A new CareerBuilder survey shows you should look toward the top. Executives, directors and managers (senior management, VPs, directors/managers/supervisors/team leaders) are far more likely to participate in office pools than professional staff and technical employees (professional/technical staff member, entry level/administrative/clerical) – 27 percent vs. 19 percent.

Overall, approximately one in eight U.S. workers (12 percent) said they plan to participate in the March Madness office pool this year; that’s down from the 15 percent who planned to do so in 2015. Twenty percent of U.S workers said they’ve participated in an NCAA Tournament office pool in the past.

Are these kinds of behaviors allowed in the office? More than half of employees (56 percent) do not know whether their company has official policies on gambling in the office.

The nationwide survey was conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from November 4 to December 1, 2015, among a representative sample of more than 3,200 full-time employees across occupations and industries in the private sector.

The following represent the groups of workers most likely to have participated in the March Madness NCAA Basketball Tournament office pool in the past.

Industry:
Workers in financial services and sales lead all industries/professions in office pool participation.

  • Financial services: 35 percent
  • Sales: 33 percent
  • IT: 26 percent
  • Transportation: 26 percent
  • Manufacturing: 23 percent
  • Leisure and hospitality: 18 percent
  • Health care: 15 percent
  • Retail: 15 percent

Workers making at least $75k: Thirty-five percent of employees making $75,000 or more annually have participated in a March Madness tournament office pool, compared to just 17 percent of those making less than $75,000.

Midwesterners: Workers in the South, West and Northeast participate at lower rates (18 percent, 20 percent and 20 percent, respectively) compared to workers in the Midwest (24 percent).

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 3,252 employees ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between November 4 and December 1, 2015. Percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions. With a pure probability sample of 3,252, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.72 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®

As the global leader in human capital solutions, CareerBuilder specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help companies with every step of the recruitment process from acquire to hire. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries, providing job distribution, sourcing, workflow, CRM, data and analytics in one pre-hire platform. It also operates leading job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO) and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact

Ladan Nikravan
312.698.0538 x70538
ladan.nikravan@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR


CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com