Many employees look forward to year-end workplace holiday celebrations. These events allow employees to celebrate with their colleagues and sometimes even family and guests. Importantly, these celebrations can also be a great way to drive employee engagement. While these events are often a long-standing company tradition, many organizations canceled holiday parties last year or found ways to connect virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, holiday parties—including in-person celebrations—may be making a comeback. Some key COVID-19 vaccine developments like widespread vaccine availability and workplace vaccine mandates may be driving change in the second holiday season of the pandemic.
According to the firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., which conducts an annual workplace holiday party survey, more employers plan to host an in-person party this year than in 2020. The survey found that:
- Nearly 27% of companies plan to hold an in-person holiday party this year, up from just 5% in 2020. Before the pandemic, three-quarters of companies had in-person holiday parties.
- Approximately 7% of companies plan to host virtual events this year, down from 17% last year.
- Almost 35% of companies won’t hold any type of event this year, which decreased from 55% last year.
- Roughly 22% of companies are unsure what their plans will be this holiday season.
Click the following link to read the entire Workplace Parties During the 2021 Holiday Season article that covers the current state of companies’ plans for year-end events and offers general best practices for in-person, virtual and alternative ways to celebrate this holiday season.
Looking for more discussion on this topic? Check out our recent HR Chat video: Workplace Holiday Parties.
