In Utrecht, employees can comb the Christmas market with an amount of about 40 euro, editor-in-chief Ries Agterberg from sister newspaper DUB says. “We can spend it on a lot of things: from food to cookery accessories, but also blankets or books.” However, this is not the case for all university employees. “Each faculty can do something different. The Christmas market, for example, is only for the beta faculty and the university administration service.”
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is less generous. “We don’t get anything from UvA, except of course the year-end bonus,” Folia answers. The newspaper therefore took matters into their own hands: an evening of bowling together, preceded by a ‘hutspot’ dinner at the editor-in-chiefs’ home.
In both Tilburg and Wageningen, employees can choose their own Christmas gift for an X amount on a special website. “That could be a bag, a bar of chocolate or even a Christmas hamper,” said the Tilburg newspaper Univers. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it? UM used to have this pleasure before, but it appeared to produce “a lot of complaining” with “long waiting times” says a 'duped' colleague.
Initially, it seemed like there would be nothing under the Christmas tree in Nijmegen this year. But they are going to get some pocket money after all: 35 euro on top of their December salaries. “Then we are not too badly off with our 75 euro,” they say here in Maastricht.
Yes, there were also old-fashioned Christmas hampers. In Leiden, employees receive a package with juice, snacks and cherry bonbons. The colleagues from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam beat the lot this year. They are going to receive a “relatively traditional” Christmas hamper. Leonidas bonbons, alcohol-free bubbly and – of course it can’t be lacking in sustainability - a ‘circulariekoek’, made from ‘salvaged’ bread, which would otherwise have ended up in the bin. The highlight is the local element: an ornament in the shape of Erasmus himself. It will already have pride of place in a Christmas tree somewhere. See the photo above.