Christmas party | 60% of workers pay for their own office Christmas party

The majority of SMEs in the private sector ask staff to contribute financially towards their own Christmas party, despite believing that the event is important for staff morale.

These are the latest findings extracted from a GMI survey of 900 SME owners and businesses managers from several industries across the UK and Ireland, led by banking and finance specialists, Close Brothers.

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The survey revealed two fifths of office Christmas parties are fully paid for by the employer. In 18% of firms, the business does not contribute towards the cost of celebrations at all. Yet despite this, over 86% of senior managers across the country believe that this kind of event is important for staff morale and cohesion. Similarly, 85% think that the leadership team should attend.

And, the research found that attitudes towards festivities varied based on region. Employers in Wales are most likely to ask their workers to contribute towards the office celebrations, with just a third of companies saying that employers pay in full for a staff party.