This year, 65 percent of companies plan to hold a holiday party, the lowest number since 2009, when 62 percent of companies held holiday festivities, according to survey results released Tuesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
According to the annual survey on holiday party plans, conducted in October among 150 human resources representatives across the country, nearly 27 percent of companies reported they never hold company parties, the highest since Challenger began the survey in 2004. Nearly 8 percent reported they are not holding a party this year for various reasons.
This is the highest number of companies reporting they will not have a party since 2009, when 38 percent reported they would not hold year-end celebrations. In that year, 15 percent of companies said they never have holiday parties, and 23 percent reported they were not having one that year.
“The low number of corporate celebrations does not appear to be due to economic reasons. Companies are sitting on tax savings and generally report a thriving economy,” said Andrew Challenger, Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
