Germany and France come to a standstill due to crunch World Cup quarterfinal
Two of Europe’s largest economies, Germany and France moved into a dormant state on Friday because of the crunch World Cup quarter-final clash between the two nations. Workers skipped their shifts, while politicians curtailed their day’s session to catch their team’s in action.
The ruling Socialists party of France curtailed their days session to end at 6:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) to enable the senators to follow their nation live.
"Better that than having the senators watching their tablets during the session or continually sneaking out to watch snippets of the game," a party spokeswoman said. "It just shows that senators are typical men."
While this was the case in France, scenes in Germany were no different either, with automobile giant Volkswagen having cancelled the late shifts of more than 4,000 workers at their main plant in Wolfsburg. A company spokesman confirmed that similar arrangements will be made at the other factories of the German manufacturer.
Bayer, the world renowned Drug-maker had to come up with an intelligent solution to help keep the business running during the hours of the game.
"We're going for flexibility," a spokesman explained. "So employees can swap their shifts with others less interested in football or - with a manager's approval - take time off from holiday or working time credits."
This is not only the case in the two European nation, as earlier in the tournament U.S. head coach, Juergen Klinsmann came to the aide of American fans, who were eager to skip work to watch their team take on Germany, with a spoof “doctor’s note”, in a nation not renowned for it’s love for football.
"I understand that this absence may reduce the productivity of your workplace, but I can assure you that it is for an important cause," wrote Klinsmann.