Two out of three of UK workers prefer a bonus over an office Xmas party

As office workers tighten their belt for a credit crunch Christmas looks like the majority would rather have a cash bonus than a Christmas party. Recent research from Monster showed that 90% would prefer cash to a Christmas party, extra holiday or shopping vouchers, in fact only 3% voted that their preference would be a Christmas party.

Whatís more for those of us who do have office parties, 66% donít look forward to them and would rather spend time with friends and family. In a comparison with our European neighbours the UK results were pretty average, with party poopers in the Netherlands looking forward to their office party the least (91%) and workers in Spain, Sweden and Belguim feeling more positive about Christmas office festivities with 58%, 50% and 40% of workers respectively stating that they are absolutely looking forward to office parties and enjoy socialising with their colleagues.

While it seems Christmas parties are not a priority for office workers this year, for those companies that still want to see the year out in style here are some tips for companies celebrating Christmas on a shoe string this year:

- Low-budget Christmas fun can work just as well as champagne and canaps, all that is needed is a little creativity

- Use the office for the Christmas party. You can decorate it to create a festive atmosphere, and the money saved can instead be spent on food, drink or entertainment

- Focus on fun, interactive entertainment the whole office can get involved in; activities such as karaoke, party games and pot luck suppers are great at helping teams get to know each other better

- Keep an element of surprise in the celebrations by organising a Secret Santa. Keep budgets to under 5 and plan a grand opening ceremony during which everyone opens their presents together

The results of the current Monster Meter are based on votes cast by Monster.co.uk visitors from: 13th – 26th October 2008 and 27th October and 9th November. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Meter, a product of Monster, the leading global online careers website and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge users' opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those Internet users who have chosen to participate. Anyone interested in voting in Monster's current online poll may do so by logging onto www.monster.co.uk