While recruitment and marketing staff enjoy a good Christmas party more than any other group of workers, back office personnel in the retail sector are the most likely to make their excuses and not turn up at all.

 
According to a survey among 2,500 UK office staff across eight industries undertaken by serviced office provider Business Environment, some 51% of marketing staff and 46% of recruiters love a good knees-up at Christmas, which they view as a great way to catch up with colleagues and get to know new staff members.
 
But attitudes varied widely across sectors. Nearly four in 10 charity workers said that they tended not to stay long at Christmas parties because they do not enjoy socialising with colleagues, while just under a quarter of retail staff did not bother to attend at all.
 
While most employees were prepared to spend an average of £5.50 on ‘secret santa’ presents for their co-workers, more than a quarter of graduate trainees were happy to contribute more than £10. Just under a third of construction workers and just under a quarter of IT staff were not keen to put in anything, however.
 
As well as being the keenest party-goers, meanwhile, recruiters were also the most avid online Christmas shoppers. More than three out of 10 planned to buy most of their gifts from ecommerce sites and expected to spend about three hours a week online doing so.
 
Although just under two thirds of respondents anticipated doing some Christmas shopping online, notable exceptions included travel and leisure and retail workers, 63% and 56% of whom respectively preferred the high street.