This Christmas, the economic downturn will translate into nearly half, 47 percent, of the UK working population staying at work throughout the period suggests a new report.
A quarter, 24 percent, of all Christmas workers will be there because their employers need them in the office, business psychologists at OPP say in a seasonal report.
The findings claim few employees will be able to relax over the Christmas and New Year holidays due to concerns over future employment.
The Christmas period is usually a busy time for anyone in industries such as retail and transport, but it seems the downturn is forcing employers from all sectors to make their people work the holidays.
More than half, 51 percent, of finance workers will still be in the office, with similar amounts of sales and IT professionals.
Unsurprising employers are in danger of creating more lasting damage than they realise making staff work over the holidays, suggests OPP.
More than one in four, 28 percent, are less productive when working during the Christmas period, one in ten employees actually finish up the season resenting their employer, while one in seven employees, 14 percent, say that Christmas working creates tension between those that aren't on leave, and those that are.
"What this study shows is that, in the current climate, many employers are not handling this in a way that keeps their people committed to the company. A good employer/employee relationship -- and employee productivity - is founded upon an understanding that both sides will do what they can to help the other. That often means going above and beyond what is in black and white in the contract," said Lucy McGee at OPP.
"Managers must not be panicked by economic doom and gloom. It can force many to do things which seem to give cost advantage but, instead, change the way people view their employers and their work and don't actually deliver short terms gains."
Last week a report suggested that offices were closing between Christmas and the New Year in order to save money on energy bills.
Partner Content
NetScout and analyst Jim Metzler have teamed to deliver a series of IT Briefs on Network and Application Performance Management leveraging research from NetScout's nGenius & Sniffer users.
www.netscout.com
Metzler on Service Delivery Management
Delivering IT business value by evolving our thinking from managing application performance to focusing on services.
Learn More
2009 Handbook of Application Delivery
Successful IT organizations must know how to make the right application delivery decisions in these tough economic times.
Download the Handbook
Metzler on the Modern IP Network
Discusses the growing emphasis on network management and the need to implement a holistic view of the end-to-end experience of the user.
Read the Brief