The Game Plan

IT'S that time in four years when: productivity drops; your stockbroker doesn't return your calls; co-workers behave like the walking dead and can speak only in terms of penalties, goals and who's running the office pool.

The month-long World Cup kicked off at 4am this morning, and companies are already expecting more staff to go on medical leave while CIMB trader Manoj Chamanlal says: "We'll definitely see a lot of football zombies over the next month". Not just men, either. "A lot of women are talking football these days, too, especially in my office."

But rather than rub their hands in exasperation, companies are surprisingly good-natured about potential lapses in the workplace over the next few weeks. Many of them are taki…