Workers: You can bet your managers are participating in March Madness

Hey workers, has your boss blocked off a suspicious amount of time for “meetings” this week? Have you walked in on your superior with the NCAA’s website up on their computer screen?

Managers: They’re just like us. They’re into March Madness too, and in fact, according to a new CareerBuilder survey, they’re even more likely to fill out an office bracket than you are.

The survey found that 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.

In general though, the average worker isn’t as into mixing business with pleasure this year, with the overall amount of U.S. workers planning to participate in a March Madness office pool down 3 percentage points from last year (12 percent vs. 15 percent). Maybe it’s because 56 percent of employees say they don’t know whether their company has official policies on gambling in the office.

Which workers are going for the win?

Some groups of workers are more into friendly office competition than others. When it comes to industries, workers in financial services (35 percent) and sales (33 percent) fill out the most brackets, followed by:

• IT: 26 percent
• Transportation: 26 percent
• Manufacturing: 23 percent
• Leisure and hospitality: 18 percent
• Health care: 15 percent
• Retail: 15 percent

Workers with bigger paychecks are also more willing to pay up for the office pool. 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.

When it comes to location, the Midwest has bigger bettors than the rest of the country. Twenty-four percent of Midwestern workers participate in office-related March Madness, compared with 18 percent of Southern workers, 20 percent of workers in the West and 20 percent of Northeastern employees.

Are you participating in a March Madness office pool this year? If not, why? Tweet us at @CareerBuilder