Christmas clock-off: Productivity slumps today as festivities take over

Whilst the majority of us won’t be driving home for Christmas until Friday, workers across the UK have officially checked out of work mode today.

According to research by Peakon, today (Monday 18 December) is the day 57% of employees admit to officially checking out at work.

Instead, two in five employees (42%) will be focusing their efforts towards Christmas shopping online, a third (35%) say they’re planning Christmas day and almost one in three (30%) are planning their Christmas break. Two in five said they were simply too excited to focus.

Or, it could be an afternoon hangover at work that’s standing in the way of productivity. One in six (16%) confess to indulging in the odd Christmas tipple on the job - with men twice as likely to take advantage of a festive drink than women (22% and 11% respectively).