Farewell to festive bums on photocopiers – Covid has killed the office Christmas party

Personally, I think going to work on a hangover is something that needs to be done at least once a year, because it teaches you a valuable lesson that can only be learned by trying to throw up silently in the staff toilets at 11am, writes Jenny Eclair

Once upon a time, the office Christmas party provided gossip well into the new year (Getty/iStock)

Covid has changed our lives in many ways, and one more potential casualty of the pandemic seems to be the office Christmas party. According to a survey which approached every company in the FTSE 100, many businesses are choosing to forgo the annual festivities and consequently, restaurant and catering bookings are massively down on those of two years ago.

Of course, some businesses may choose to cancel their office Christmas party this year in order to save some cash and who can blame them? It’s been a brutal 18 months. For others,  it’s a question of health and safety.

Christmas is coming at a pretty inconvenient time this year, with many office-aged people reaching a period where their Covid vaccinations have begun to wane. For many workplaces, the prospect of the annual knees-up turning into a super-spreader event just isn’t worth the grief.