‘Work from the pub kind of energy’: Sydney braces for the great Socceroo sickie

Sydney is set to grind to a halt on Friday when Australia takes on Paraguay in their final World Cup group stage match, with bosses urged to embrace football fever or face a plague of World Cup cough.

With the match set to kick off at noon, venues across the city are bracing for a wave of workers who have either chucked a sickie or elected to work from home on Friday.

And Socceroos fan hotspot The Sackville Hotel (renamed The Sacky-Roos for the World Cup) in Rozelle is prepared for the wave of clocked-off workers.

“It’s a Socceroos long weekend,” said Oban Seex, general manager at The Sackville.

“I think that there probably would be a few people who are chucking sickies, or maybe that they’ve just got a bit of the Socceroos fever that’s going about.

“I wouldn’t necessarily be encouraging people to call in sick. But I think there’s going to be a lot of work from home, or maybe a bit of work from the pub kind of energy.”

The pub is expecting up to 1000 people to turn up for the game, which has become a crunch match after the Socceroos lost to the United States on Saturday.

The disruptions extend to Business Western Sydney, which has had to alter its run sheet for its post-budget lunch with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey so he speaks at half-time.

The organisation’s executive director, David Borger, is hoping the crowd from the nearby Parramatta live site doesn’t drown out their speakers.

“I think some people will be keeping one eye on the treasurer and one eye out the window to see the crowd reaction. I think it’s going to go off, and they’re going to scream so loudly that you’ll be able to hear them through the 50-storey office blocks in Parramatta Square.”

A peek inside the online forums of Socceroos fans show World Cup sickies, work-from-home days and office watch parties have been in the works for weeks. One anonymous fan told Reddit: “My boss is English. We’ve already spoken about lower productivity and working from home during June.”

Another fan said: “I work from home, June is gonna be unproductive as hell.”

This match is the first in recent Australian football memory that such an important game has aired during the Australian workday, Football Supporters Association of Australia chair Patrick Clancy said. Invoking Bob Hawke’s famous quote, Clancy said: “Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up to work on Friday afternoon is a bum”.

“I think employers should show some degree of leniency to people who want to take in the World Cup at work or outside of work. It’s a huge match and I’m sure many bosses will be keen to watch as well.”

Fridays are already a tough day to get employees into the office, and a lunchtime World Cup match will be a strong lure for office workers to stay home. Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said there are ways that businesses can benefit from this dip in productivity.

“We expect some employers to organise lunchtime screenings, flexible breaks or team gatherings, recognising the positive impact major sporting events can have on workplace morale,” he said.

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