More employers are throwing holiday parties this year as 72 percent of employers plan to hold an event, a jump from 68 percent in 2011 and 61 percent in 2009 and 2010, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.
Meanwhile, only 10 percent of respondents report that financial hardships have caused them to cut back on holiday parties, marking a decline from 20 percent in 2009.
While 68 percent of respondents host off-site holiday parties, approximately a quarter of respondents are holding on-site holiday parties. Of the respondents hosting on-site holiday parties, 7 percent report doing so to save money.
Recommended For You
"At the height of the recession when employers were operating on very lean budgets, events like holiday parties were among the first to be cut," says Evren Esen, manager of SHRM's survey research center. "An increase in this area may be a sign that more organizations are resuming their prerecession business practices."
When it comes to alcohol at holiday parties, 61 percent of respondents plan to serve alcohol, and 51 percent of respondents intend to monitor consumption by providing drink tickets or a drink maximum at 57 percent, serving only certain types of alcohol at 42 percent or having a cash bar at 25 percent. During the rest of the year, 33 percent of respondents say they have either a formal or informal policy that permits drinking alcohol at work-related events, but 41 percent of respondents do not. In the last two years, 90 percent of respondents say they have had no disciplinary problems with employees regarding drinking at work-related events.
Another 74 percent of respondents say they hold charitable donations or drives during the holiday season. Thirty percent of respondents provide all employees with nonperformance-based bonuses; however, 66 percent of respondents do no give out that type of bonus.
For employee gift exchanges, 41 percent of respondents participate within departments, 11 percent of respondents participate company wide and 5 percent of respondents participate in both.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
