Christmas Parties - Business as usual

Online, November 30, 2009 (Newswire.com) - It's that time of year again and employees across the country are dusting off their dancing shoes for the annual Christmas bash.

It's been a difficult year for Irish employers and many have had to introduce some tough measures in an effort to reduce costs. Despite that, a survey by RecruitIreland.com shows, only 8% of employers will be cancelling the annual Christmas party.

In the survey of 300 employers and HR managers 88% of respondents indicated that they traditionally pay in full for the Christmas party. Of those;

Just over 70% of those will be continuing to pay for the outing in 2009 although half will be scaling back on previous years
20% are still unsure what they will do
8% have decided to cancel the celebrations

Christmas bonuses, on the other hand, have been culled.

65% of respondents indicated that Christmas bonuses were a part of their company benefits package and 52% of those stated that the Christmas bonus has been cancelled. On the plus side the remainder indicated that they will still be paying a bonus, albeit, in most cases, lower then previous years.

The survey also asked what measures were introduced in 2009 to help combat the recession. The key findings are as follows;

Over 50% had to make some redundancies during the year
Half introduced pay freezes
40% introduced pay cuts
One third introduced part-time working

Finally, there is some light at the end of the tunnel, over 60% of those surveyed believe that things will improve in 2010 and 20% actually see themselves giving pay increases in 2010.

"Its disappointing but not surprising that Christmas bonuses have been badly affected by the downturn" commented Emma Henry Marketing Manager, RecruitIreland.com "But its good to see that Christmas parties are still going ahead, its important for employees to get a chance to let their hair down and ring out the year that was 2009. Here's hoping that those employers that have predicted improvements in 2010 will be proved right."