• 53% Enjoy long-term romance after kissing under mistletoe
• 73% HR workers who met partner at work party still together
• 31% of those who met partners at seasonal work dos are still together
• 30% regret kissing colleagues at Christmas party

A recent survey reveals that as well as the usual antics, the office Christmas party can actually be the start of longer term relationships after seasonal smooching! 64% of office workers feel more confident at the Christmas party talking to colleagues that they wouldn’t normally encounter, leading to romance for almost half (47%), with over a fifth sharing a kiss (22%).
UK online printer, instantprint, conducted research which surprisingly revealed that HR were the wildest at the work Christmas party, with 40% of HR workers having considered handing in their notice the day after their party as they deemed their behaviour that bad!

Over half of HR (51%) are nervous about going into work the following day due to: having a romantic run-in with a colleague (53%) - with 22% actually kissing someone; saying something that they regret (52%) including telling their boss what they really think of them (16%) and a colleague’s secret (16%) right through to revealing that they are applying for other jobs (15%). A fifth actually admit to being sick the following day at work and 69% are really hangover despite 61% having to go home before 11pm so it follows that half book the following day off work.

However overall, the Marketing and Sales department are the rowdiest or cause the most trouble at the Christmas party (30%). Interestingly each department seems to think that their department is the worst behaved at the party! But romantically, IT managers are the most likely to kiss someone else at the office party (31%)
Senior Management are deemed to show their true colours at parties and act differently to how they would normally would in the office (23%. Indeed they are actually the most likely to stay out until 2am or later (20%), propping up the bar with co-workers in the sales and marketing team (19%). 6% of top tier managers actually confess to being embarrassingly drunk yet 40% boast that they don’t suffer hangovers the next day!
 
According to the results, office workers in the North East party the hardest (80%) and are most likely to regret kissing a co-worker (68%) yet Northern Irelanders get the most kisses at 32%. Meanwhile those in London are full of woe for bitching about their boss (19%) and admitting to fancying someone (19%).

The shocking things that people disclosed about drunkenly doing at their office Christmas party range from falling through the marquee during the boss’ toast, to telling the boss he’s uglier than his wife and kissing the boss in front of his own daughter!
Enjoy further statistics and funny Christmas party confessions over on the instantprintwebsite.
instantprint has created a top ten tips for office workers to survive the Christmas party:

1.      Have a glass of water in between alcoholic drinks.
2.      Don’t tell colleagues what you really think of them.
3.      Make sure you eat dinner beforehand.
4.      Book the next day off.
5.      Avoid deep conversations with the boss.
6.      Avoid the office creep.
7.      Dress appropriately – don’t wear too short a dress/unbuttoned shirt.
8.      Shots after 11pm are not a good idea.
9.      Give yourself a curfew.
10.   Just don’t go.

Co-founder of instantprint, James Kinsella,comments, “The office Christmas party is the perfect opportunity to bond with your team mates and let your hair down at the end of the year. However, some office workers feel anxious about attending their work Christmas party in case they embarrass themselves or do something they later regret. We hope that this research will provide office workers with a few words of advice on surviving the much-anticipated Christmas party, along with some entertaining stories, so they can relax and enjoy the festivities.”