Just over one-sixth of UK businesses have sent gifts to their staff, who they feel are under increasing pressure due to the lockdown brought on by COVID-19.
Hamper.com, a company that delivers hampers, has found that 16 per cent of companies have sent a “goodwill gesture” to employees during the lockdown. With an additional 34 per cent considering doing something similar for their staff.
Before the lockdown, sickness or personal leave were the main reasons an employee would receive a gift from work.
Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of gifts were bought to be sent to employees forced to work from home, whilst 20 per cent of gifts bought was sent to key workers.
The top gifts were revealed to be:
- Alcohol – 15 per cent
- Gift cards/vouchers – 14 per cent
- Food & drink hampers – 14 per cent
- Confectionery hampers – 11 per cent
- Chocolates – 9 per cent
Just under a tenth (9 per cent) said that sending a gift to staff made them feel less guilty of reducing salary in response to COVID-19.
Patrick Gore, managing director of www.Hamper.com, said:
Many British employees, regardless of the industry they work in or if their job is considered ‘essential’, will have found the past few weeks an incredible strain on both their personal and working lives. Suddenly being expected to work from home and cope with such challenges as raising young families whilst being stuck indoors all day is a hard adjustment to make. Whilst many businesses face an uncertain future, it’s heart-warming to see that many are choosing to reward the employees keeping their businesses afloat or thanking those who they’ve had no choice but to furlough for their continued support and understanding.
Business owners will surely take many lessons away from this pandemic, not least in learning to appreciate and value the members of staff at all levels continually striving to work hard for their company.
These results were obtained by Hamper.com asking 500 managing directors, founders and co-founders, and business owners.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.