This estimate includes the number of Americans who will watch the games and the time they'll spend filling out brackets and watching the tournament, taking into account the average hourly earnings.

Despite this loss, the firm does not advise fighting against March Madness. Instead, the tournament can be an excellent opportunity to boost morale and energy at work. Andrew Challenger, senior VP of global outplacement and business at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, recommends creating events around March Madness, such as watching games or filling out brackets together, with incentives for the winner.

The firm suggests ways for employers to boost morale and minimise productivity losses during the tournament. This includes setting up a designated workstation to keep up with the games, offering worker incentives to fill out brackets, choosing one game for the entire office to watch together (in person or remotely) and giving brackets to each department to compete for a prize.

Despite whether one loves or hates the tournament, there's no way to stop March Madness, so employers may as well embrace it. By doing so, they can create an exciting and competitive work environment that could positively impact their workforce's morale and productivity.

In the single-elimination NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, 68 teams compete in seven rounds for the national title. When just four teams remain, the penultimate round is referred to as the Final Four. The Selection Committee releases the complete NCAA tournament bracket, including all teams and seeding, on Sunday.