At the office during France-Uruguay, we work "a little bit anyway"

Paris – Avachi on a big cushion on the floor, the laptop on his lap but his eyes on the big screen, Kevin Delli follows the France-Uruguay match surrounded by dozens of his colleagues, trying to "work a little still ".
  

Stalled in first place, he did not lose a minute of the quarter-final. " There is always a good atmosphere, we are with colleagues, who in the end are still friends, so it's nice to see him with them ", says the young man who was drawn a french flag on each cheek.

A few dozen employees at the Paris headquarters of the online trading company Rakuten (formerly PriceMinister) installed themselves against three very large screens, between the coffee machine and a table covered with small ovens specially ordered for the first time. 'opportunity.

" We have more than a quarter of our employees following the game, some were reluctant to go to bars, but finally, as they were offered an offer that was nice, with food and drink, they stayed with their colleagues to enjoy a good time together ", told AFP Alexia Lefeuvre, director of communication at Rakuten.

The first half hour pbades in a concentrated atmosphere, almost tense. Some employees brought their laptops and lifted their noses with each shudder of anguish and " oh " of desperation, as for Uruguay's free kicks or missed opportunities.

In the 40th minute, it is the explosion of joy, fists in the air and cries warriors to celebrate the goal of the head of Raphael Varane. Even some employees who do not like football emerge from the landscape office, attracted by the noise … and the buffet.

As Clarisse Lorrain, a computer graphic artist that this sport has " never interested ", " too much business ". She does not like the atmosphere of the World Cup – " four years ago, it was hell, my birthday was a disaster because of the match ," she recalls – but " fortunately there are petits fours ".

– " The esprit de corps " –

Savory and sweet bites pecked with pikes decorated with small tricolor flags, as part of the special buffet of Monbanquet.fr, a partner of Rakuten.

" We created this offer at the beginning of June, and the craze was quite low for the first matches ," said Maxime Renault, co-founder and CEO of this event specialist for companies, " but we have had more and more requests and there are several dozens of companies that are calling on us for this quarterfinal.It is thought that it will increase with the continuation of the competition ".

Start-ups or large groups, many companies are taking advantage of the World Cup to strengthen the cohesion of their teams by providing time for matches. " It does not hurt productivity, on the contrary, it will participate in esprit de corps ", justifies Alexia Lefeuvre. " The more comfortable people are in their business, the more they are able to participate in the life of the company and proud to work for us." "

Germain Sigety, a developer who did not miss a single match, watched the first half at his desk, " time to finish something ", before finding a place in the common room " with friends ".

After the second goal – scored by Antoine Griezmann in the 61st minute – the atmosphere becomes totally relaxed. We make fun of players who " simulate " and we start making predictions for the semifinal.

Ségolène Beaudot, manager of a sales team, closes his laptop. " I was waiting for answers from customers but I have not received anything since the beginning of the match, so it is useless! ", she amuses herself.

At the end of the match, some employees return to their office to the sound of horns rising from the street. IT support manager, Valérie Vicente is happy, she has made good progress in her work, without missing any action: " applauding with the others is still more fun than alone in front of her screen ".