Christmas cheer will be thin on the ground for public sector and voluntary organisation employees this year, with new research showing that the areas are the least likely to provide a Christmas party or Christmas gift for employees.
Private sector organisations were the most generous, with 83 per cent likely to provide a Christmas party, compared to only 23 per cent of public sector employers planning to provide a party or lunch, a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) revealed.
The size of the organisation was also a factor, with 74 per cent of organisations with 50-249 workers throwing a party and 13 per cent of employees receiving a gift, compared to only 44 per cent of organisations with 5,000 plus workers providing a party and just three per cent getting a gift.
Charles Cotton of the CIPD said: "A combination of intense competitive pressure and higher non-wage labour costs has squeezed profit margins, over the last year. This will have resulted in greater efforts to control costs causing modest increase in pay cuts and job losses.
"So less festive generosity this Christmas is likely to be symptomatic of such pressures, rather than indicating a more Scrooge like attitude just for the sake of it."
However, if the necessity of making cutbacks was not communicated to staff, it could cause lack of motivation and poor performance, he warned.
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