A new survey of 1,000 adults who have worked a shift on December 25th says the appeal isn’t only the paycheck. Respondents pointed to quieter commutes, less pressure to stage a “perfect” holiday, and skipping the cooking and cleanup as real upsides to clocking in on Christmas.
The poll, commissioned by UK pub chain Greene King and conducted through OnePoll, found 37 percent of respondents valued the lighter traffic that comes with working the holiday, while 27 percent liked being free of pressure to make the day picture-perfect. Nineteen percent were glad to skip cooking and cleaning up a festive dinner, and 15 percent appreciated some distance from family dynamics.
Beyond the personal perks, a larger share said the real draw was making the day meaningful for someone else: 37 percent said that was their main motivation, and 25 percent said they valued giving back to their community. Among healthcare workers specifically, 45 percent said they valued helping make the day feel meaningful for people who couldn’t be with loved ones.
The research, tied to Greene King’s second annual Big Christmas Shift program offering free meals to Christmas Day workers from December 2-5 (sign-up or nomination deadline November 16), found the average respondent has worked six Christmas Day shifts, with the typical worker now on a fourth consecutive year and 21 percent having worked the holiday ten times or more.
That tracks with a separate study by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, which found 1.2 million people worked on Christmas Day in 2025, up from 1.1 million in 2018.
Workers in care and medical fields described specific moments that stood out — comforting someone who was struggling, or helping someone who might otherwise have spent the day alone. Across all workers surveyed, 20 percent said they’d helped someone connect with family and 16 percent said they’d helped someone keep up a tradition. Thirty percent cited watching someone’s mood lift because of something they did, and 27 percent recalled an unexpected thank-you. Many reported being given a card (28 percent), a gift (25 percent) or food (33 percent) in appreciation.
To make the work possible, shift workers reshuffle their own celebrations. Some move their entire holiday earlier (25 percent) or later (8 percent), while 79 percent said they instead sacrifice specific traditions — their own Christmas dinner (45 percent), time with extended family (37 percent), opening presents (31 percent) or a festive walk (18 percent).
“Behind so many special moments that the rest of us enjoy, there are people giving up time with their loved ones to make Christmas special for somebody else,” said Andrew Gallagher of Greene King. “So, this year, we are giving Santa a little less of the credit and putting the spotlight on Britain’s real Christmas shift workers. Offering 30,000 free meals is our way of saying thank you to every person behind the scenes and giving them a chance to enjoy some well-earned festive cheer of their own.”
