Some love them, others dread them – but party planners take note, as a new poll of the nation has revealed that 80% of office workers believe the Christmas party is making a comeback for 2021.

According to those surveyed by ride-hailing app FREE NOW, the perfect Christmas work do would have a smart casual dress code (30%), be held in a restaurant (38%), and there would be sophisticated decor (48%). This alongside a fancy festive buffet (44%), classy cocktails, (31%), a finish time of midnight, and ending with a taxi ride home (61%).

In fact, three quarters (76%) say their boss will be going the extra mile this year, to make up for last year’s hiatus – with a staggering 95% reporting that they won’t be celebrating in their office this year, with the most popular venue proving to be a posh eatery (21%). A fifth (20%) of colleagues will be partying in an upmarket pub, and one in ten (10%) will be meeting in a swanky cocktail bar instead.

The study also revealed the Christmas songs most likely to get workers up on the dancefloor, with Slade’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ coming top (33%), followed by Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ (30%) and The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’ (28%).

When it comes to behaving badly, the study found that HR professionals topped the list for the party-goers most likely to get caught snogging a colleague (15%). Perhaps a sign they need to clock off earlier, employees working in arts & culture were found to be most likely to be sleeping mid-party (21%); and lawyers are most likely to admit to getting too drunk in the past (42%).

But the research also highlighted that there would be some notable differences at parties this year, with a third (33%) of Brits still hesitant to hug colleagues and almost half (48%) saying they’d be sanitising throughout. Almost a third (30%) will be wearing a face mask while entering and exiting the venue, with a quarter (20%) set to avoid shaking anyone’s hands.

When it comes to Christmas work party traditions that are on their way out, the lack of an office venue means that photocopying body parts is unlikely (21%), and Covid worries might have put an end to snogging your office crush (19%).

Mistletoe (18%), a slow dance at the end of the night (14%) and drinking warm wine from plastic cups (14%) were also seen passé by Brits.

Mariusz Zabrocki, UK General Manager at FREE NOW comments: “It is good to hear that most Brits expect the office Christmas party to return this year. Christmas is usually the busiest time of the year for the taxi trade and our bookings trend data indicates that Christmas 2021 will be the busiest ever. This is understandable after two years of being mainly stuck indoors so we expect to see more events, however this will be tempered due to COVID-related cautions in order to help everyone celebrate safely.”

The top 10 office Christmas party traditions that have died a death, according to Brits:

Photocopying body parts 21%
Platonically hugging and kissing colleagues 20%
Smoke machines in the office 20%
Party games 20%
Snogging a work colleague 19%
Mistletoe 18%
Drinking games 15%
A slow dance at the end of the night 14%
Wine in plastic cups 14%
Embarrassing yourself in front of the boss 12%