Cost of Christmas drives Brits to find a second job

Over half of British workers would consider taking a second job over the festive season to help pay for Christmas: 61% of those surveyed by Manpower, the leading employment experts, said that they would need a second job to ensure that they can afford all the Christmas trimmings.

Christmas bonuses for those working in the City are reported to hit an all time high this year but for 20% of British workers Christmas plans wonít be extravagant, as they plan to spend less than 100 throughout the festive season. 52% of those surveyed expect to spend between 100 and 400 on celebrating Christmas, whilst 28% said that they would spend more than 400 on Christmas this year.

Manpowerís survey ñ conducted in early November - found that many British workers (62%) had already started looking for a second job to cover the extra seasonal costs. In addition, 53% of Brits would consider taking a second job in the New Year, after they have enjoyed the season of goodwill, to help pay off their Christmas debts.

Jason Greaves, head of Manpowerís commercial staffing, says, ìThe festive season makes a big dent in most peopleís pockets. Whilst a few people get large bonuses, for most people Christmas is a considerable expense to afford. Itís not surprising that more than half of British workers had already anticipated the extra cost and were actively job searching in early November.

ìManpower always sees an increase in temporary vacancies over the festive period and into the New Year, and the good news is that theyíre often flexible enough to ensure that workers can still enjoy themselves.î