Christmas parties are being binned like week-old turkey, according to the first of what will surely be a stockingful of surveys tenuously related to the birth of Jesus.
More than a third of organisations will not be holding festive bashes this year, according to the grandly named Christmas Outlook report by the Chartered Management Institute.
Just 66% of you will be boozing it up with colleagues in the local chain pub one Friday this December – down from a dizzying 86% in the halcyon days of 2002, according to the report.
It’s more bah humbug than after-dinner mint humbug as four in 10 companies will make no financial contribution to office parties this year.
And whatever West Bromwich Albion Football Club fans may sing, Santa is not a Baggie, as employers in the West Midlands stump up the least cash for Christmas celebrations.
In fact, the survey of 513 UK managers showed that one in five of them believe Christmas celebrations are ‘a chore’.
In news as shocking as hearing that kids prefer their new PlayStation to Brussel sprouts, the survey also revealed that half the respondents believed the atmosphere at workplace end-of-year parties was often ‘forced’.
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Jo Causon, director of marketing and corporate affairs at the Chartered Management Institute, said: “The idea that individuals and employers don’t allow themselves to unwind at Christmas is extremely disappointing, especially in light of evidence suggesting that taking time out enables you to recharge your batteries.”
Reports that 51% of office workers preferred mince pies to Christmas pudding were unconfirmed at the time of writing.
