What Will Company Holiday Parties Look Like This Year?

Despite COVID-19 and the flu, company holiday parties are making a comeback in 2022. See what's planned this holiday season!    

With the holiday season upon us, organizations of every type and size are thinking about the best way to celebrate this year. Despite COVID-19 still on the scene, and a flu season that CNN described as “worse than any has been in more than a decade,” most companies are planning to have a celebration of some kind this year — even if their holiday parties don’t look quite like they have in the past.

Holiday Parties
(Photo: Adobe Stock by deagreez)

When asked what their businesses are planning for their holiday celebrations in 2022, 63% of companies said they will have a party of some kind, according to Elevent’s Holiday Event Planning Survey. The survey included more than 100 participants from Fortune 500 companies, including Amazon, Progressive, Dell, Microsoft, Intuit, SalesForce, Cisco Systems, Allstate, LinkedIn, and Google.

“This survey helped us better understand what companies are looking to plan this holiday event season and what their main challenges are. The holidays are a traditional and important time of year for employees to gather and foster team-bonding, but this looks a bit different now with the rise of remote work environments,” said Jon Conelias, CEO, Elevent. “For virtual teams, we believe that access to memorable holiday team-building events is important to boost engagement and morale this time of year, which we are proud to provide”

holiday partiesHere are some key takeaways from the survey:

  • Holiday parties are making a comeback: Many companies skipped their parties in 2021 amid COVID-19 surges. This year, 63.6% of participants said their company will be having a holiday party. Of these, 24% of participants are planning an in-person party, 17% will have a virtual party, and 22% anticipate a hybrid holiday party to accommodate both local and remote employees.
  • The challenge for virtual holiday parties in 2022: Over 31% of respondents felt that finding an event that everyone likes is the most significant pain point. 27% worry they won’t find something that fits their budget.

How does your company plan to celebrate the holiday season this year? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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