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« Top 5 Things to Do After a Layoff | Main | Is Your Job Search Ready for 2009? »

December 11, 2008

Are Office Holiday Parties Appropriate in a Recession?

It’s official: We are in a recession and have been since last December. It’s also official that in response, corporate holiday parties are down this year. According to executive search firm Battalia Winston Amrop, fewer companies are holding holiday events in 2008 (Word file download) than they did post-9/11, representing a 20-year low. Ouch.


The good news is that many companies are donating to charity instead. And for those fans of the company holiday party, other firms are scaling back rather than canceling the party outright, holding potluck events in the office rather than having catered affairs at expensive off-site venues.


I’m torn. On the one hand, there’s an argument that with economic collapse and layoffs all around us, celebrating is inappropriate. On the other, having some kind of event may get our minds off the dismal economic situation, meaning parties are more important than ever.


What do you think? Leave your comments below. And if your company is still holding a party, check out these resources and cautionary tales:

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Posted by Christine on December 11, 2008 at 04:15 PM in Current Events | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

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Comments

As of Friday my company was still having a "holiday party" but it is going to be WAY scaled back. A few appetizers and the employee of the year announcement. We had a 10% administrative leave on Friday which was heartbreaking. I am sure most will not be in the holiday mood, but they will have it to keep the moral of the employees who are still there.

Posted by: KJ | Dec 15, 2008 2:47:24 AM

My thinking is this, is the office party just a grandstand for the top brass, or a little thank you for your help with the rest of us? See, I still looked forward to the company party, more so now because we are all tense and uneasy, there would be a lot of employees that will not be around in the company in the next few weeks, days, and in some cases hours, so having the party is even more so a needed event. The knee jerk reaction is don't spend any money cause you look like you are frevious with money and don't care, but that's been an argument well before now. Pay of those that need the money the most are cut in the 'guse of saving money or because of the economy. Let's not cut the thing that helps your employees relax in the stress of it all.

Posted by: Ernest | Jan 9, 2009 6:53:11 PM

Wouldn't canceling a Holiday Party put more stress on the Hospitality Industry and result in more job losses?

The perils of unintended consequences...

Posted by: Martin Middelmann | Jan 15, 2009 9:02:27 AM

Apparently the people that get “out of hand” at a holiday party at work do not get out much. If you are a “special occasions” drinker than you most likely will not be used to the effects of alcohol and taking the chance to drink too much in front of coworkers and supervisors is not a good idea. I don’t mind work parties but that is not where I do the bulk of my partying. Work parties are more of an obligation, not an occasion I look too forward to and most likely will stay only for a short time.

Rose.

Posted by: Holiday Party | Jan 21, 2009 11:21:06 PM

Sadly I work in technology and prior to Y2K there were great parties, but after the tech slow down around that time the parties actually came to an end. They still haven't come back yet.

Posted by: Denver PC Guy | Feb 7, 2009 8:58:01 AM

In my opinion having some kind of event like corporate parties in the end of the year can be a good thing for all employees, they can be chatting together about their life and building a better friendly relationship, especially if the enviroment of the party is well built. Hiring a comedian and a musician should be great or much better a band. I dont't think that this kind of corporate event can make worse the financial time. What do you think?

Posted by: Fabio | Jul 23, 2009 7:41:01 PM

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