Business
The Majority of Workers Don’t Gift a Present to Their Boss at Christmas
Published by Gbaf News
Posted on December 24, 2018
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
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Published by Gbaf News
Posted on December 24, 2018
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEMPLOYEES could be missing out on opportunities to strengthen their relationship with their boss, as new research has revealed how many workers don’t present their boss with a token gift at the end of the year.
A study of 1,000 UK workers published in the Most Generous Time of the Year Study by Perkbox, the UK’s fastest growing employee benefits platform, revealed that 90% of employees don’t gift their boss a present during the Christmas season.
This is in contrast to 70% of generous bosses who purchase a gift for their workforce at Christmas.
Only a small few (11%) confessed they do it to benefit themselves at work, make their boss think favourably of them and improve their relationship with their boss, suggesting many could be missing a trick.
More than 1 in 5 (21%) workers said they present a gift to their manager simply just to be nice.
Of those who give a token gift to their boss, this is a considerable amount as employees spend £15 on average.
Chieu Cao, CMO & Co-Founder at Perkbox, said: “With Christmas being the season of goodwill, it is a long-served tradition for employers to offer a token gift to their employees to thank them for their efforts throughout the past year. But what is surprising from our research is how many employees don’t return the favour.
Cao continues: “However, this can present a challenge as every workplace culture is different, so it can be difficult to determine what gift etiquette is appropriate. In light of this, employees should get a feel for protocol when it comes to gift giving to their boss in their workplace at Christmas. If an employee doesn’t feel comfortable buying a present for their boss by themselves, then why not club together with the rest of the workforce to buy a group present? It simply requires one person to get the gift organised and by purchasing it together you will be able to spend a little more and can choose from a range of options.”
Those employees working in hospitality (29%), professional services (18%) and travel (17%) were revealed as generous gift givers.
Healthcare (16%) and sales and marketing (13%) rounded off the list of the top five most generous industries when it comes to giving to their boss at the end of the year.
To review what employee benefits staff really want at Christmas, check out Perkbox’s Most Generous Time of the Year Study.
Perkbox works to help companies increase motivation and engagement among employees, making businesses more inspirational place to work.
The online platform provides access for employees to snap up incentives and rewards, earned through their workplace.
For more information about Perkbox and to book in a chat to understand how they can help motivate your staff, visit www.perkbox.com
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