nice gesture but what I really missed when I worked at a Dutch owned business at this time of the year was my boss telling me he or she appreciated all my hard work and dedication. this never once happened, so now I work at an international company, where I feel appreciated and I am motivated and inspired by my managers.
I feel very lucky, but much of this is simply due to my abilty to not put up with alot of the silly nonsense in this culture and create a better life for myself here.

By Bill | December 21, 2011 10:44 AM

@Bill: I usually agree with your comments, but this sounds a bit bitter. It might be that you just had a bad experience at your Dutch company. Personally, working for a Dutch university, I feel very appreciated and that is expressed throughout the year, whereas when I worked in the US there were a lot of niceties about how hard I worked but also far more backstabbing...Cheers and Happy Xmas!

By Leon | December 21, 2011 11:29 AM

@Bill: As they say, the best things in life are free. And appreciation is one of them. Some stupid 65 euro waste-of-money-basket is worth nothing compared to a little appreciation - it's too bad these people can't see that.

I love your comments Bill. You're the kind of dude that'd be nice to have a beer with :P Fijne Kerstdagen!

By Stupid | December 21, 2011 1:39 PM

Excellent idea. The Greeks should be supported even with 'small' gestures like this. We are all in this together and working as an harmonious team will get us out of this mess far quicker that the blame game

By Peter Altmaa | December 21, 2011 2:46 PM

to Bill (above): My husband works for a Dutch company and several of his Dutch co-workers complain that my husband thanks them too often for their good work and help. They tell him they're just doing their jobs, so stop thanking us!

By Megan | December 21, 2011 4:02 PM

Well it sounds better than the kerstpakket we got yesterday from a large well known company. A bottle of water, a big black bag, some black useless bowls - not to be used for food - and a few nibbles. It was a disgrace.We would rather not have it. It must have cost a fortune to send everyone a present. Then they have the cheek to deduct money from our salary that we already paid in September and we did tell them - Ba Humbug - Merry Christmas everyone

By Lin | December 21, 2011 4:26 PM

I have worked for British and Canadian companies and never received anything from either one... Bummer!

By JK | December 21, 2011 5:40 PM

Bill's right, workplaces these days lack the simple warm appreciation for their employees’ hard work and dedication keeping their business profit margins up as much as possible in this tough economy. Open communication keeps big companies on top when employers take the time to listen to their employee suggestions which could be a company’s advantage. Feels good to be appreciated sometimes and is a great motivation tool for employers. The Greek gift idea might also be helping their Greek EU neighbors own economy a bit. Nice gesture for those who appreciate a gift basket/hamper filled with goodies. Anything’s better than a one year membership in the jelly of the month club. ;)

By Kate | December 21, 2011 8:43 PM

'Met a Greek immigrant today in a local bar. He's been here just 3 weeks, speaks Turkish, Arabic, English, Russian & owned a bar in his own country, until his country collapsed into a lifelong debt. He started to tell me of his loss (Bar/restaurant owner)& how he already misses his wife and kids. Like many other countries, no referendum. Like I guess many others, victims of EU botched-up bullying for greed...

'Since when are we all so much better off with this dictatorship??

By The visitor | December 21, 2011 9:45 PM

beware of greeks bearing gifts ,or just greek gifts ???

By metha | December 21, 2011 11:03 PM

So the gift is worth 42. But they each cost 65 per employee. And they're supposed to be grateful to the employer for a gift that was bought by the employee's own money. And isn't even worth what they paid for it. I'd rather have nothing from an employer like that and just keep my money. Using the employee's money to get them a 'gift' isn't even a gift! Just like a bank.

By Bubba | December 22, 2011 1:42 PM

thanks for the nice remarks! I really appreciate all of you :)
happy holidays and peace in the new year!!

By Bill | December 22, 2011 4:33 PM

Thank you, Dutch people. We love you. Don't believe what you see in gossip rags, the vast majority of ordinary Greeks work very hard and alway pay their taxes. It's the corrupt few that led our country to this situation.

By Alex | December 26, 2011 6:39 PM