Is the Company Holiday Party Dead?

I just found out that the huge mega corporation I worked at for years killed off their holiday party soon after I left. I'm sure it was expensive, but it was also a huge morale booster in an otherwise soul sucking environment. I'm fairly sure the investment was paid back over the year in employee productivity & cooperation. But for nearly a decade it was THE event of the year, even in the bad financial years.

Since I'm self employed I only go to my local auto journalist holiday party (which was go karts & booze, awesome). I know Coker Tire still does an epic family friendly holiday party. My Dad used to do catered holiday lunches at his stores for all the employees. Even the Jeep place I worked at did a potluck lunch.

I know it isn't a requirement to have any sort of holiday event, but it was always a nice perk. Guess not anymore.

I've got one on Friday. We have lots of office celebrations complete with catering and raffles. Probably to make up for the pay

Our holiday party is Thursday night. Dinner for 25+ at a nice restaurant in town, then we go and bowl. Well, some of us bowl. Some of us watch, drink and heckle. Friday the office is closed, because who wants to go to a weeknight party and then have to work the next day? Let's be honest, that's the best part of it.

It's not cheap, but fortunately our staff is small enough that we can afford to do a nice thing. And we work hard in the office, so it's great to be able to just kick back and enjoy our coworkers' company without deadline pressure making you feel like you don't have time to chat.

Margie

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Our holiday party is Thursday night. Dinner for 25+ at a nice restaurant in town, then we go and bowl. Well, some of us bowl. Some of us watch, drink and heckle. Friday the office is closed, because who wants to go to a weeknight party and then have to work the next day? Let's be honest, that's the best part of it. It's not cheap, but fortunately our staff is small enough that we can afford to do a nice thing. And we work hard in the office, so it's great to be able to just kick back and enjoy our coworkers' company without deadline pressure making you feel like you don't have time to chat. Margie

I knew GRM would keep the holiday party fire burning. Bravo.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard:

It's all fun and games until a bunch of readers and forum members come crash the bowling portion and set up shop in the lanes adjacent to you.

I'm going to one tonight. We're a stodgy company (although my department is not). Decent food, free drinks (top shelf), billiards, bowling, and bocce ball. Its a pretty good time. I would guess it is going to cost the company about $50k. Small chunk of change for them.

Then in my department, the party planning committee (me and my cubemate--we're 1/2 the team) decided to plan a team lunch on December 23 since every one was in the office that day. We strategically scheduled it at 11:30 since we usually are let out at 2PM on days before holidays. We also strategically scheduled it at a place we've never been, but our director has been going on and on about their cocktails for awhile now. So we'll get those free drinks too.

If there is something my company does right, it is keep its employees happy with little things like this. I've been to 8-11 events that were company wide in the 2 years that I've been here that included alcohol. 4 of those were during the work day.

captdownshift wrote: In reply to Marjorie Suddard: It's all fun and games until a bunch of readers and forum members come crash the bowling portion and set up shop in the lanes adjacent to you.

We'll be pretty well lit. Not sure a bunch of readers and forum members can handle our, uh, unvarnished version. (For reference, this is not mine.)

And I bet Coker's party is excellent--been fortunate to get to know Corky a little bit, and he is just good people. Not surprisingly, he is surrounded by more good people. And he has an awesome museum. You guys should crash that one!

Margie

In reply to Marjorie Suddard:

I tease of course, enjoy it sounds like a good time and you have an excellent group of folks who I'm sure that we could all handle unfiltered as we've all spent time in grid, paddock and camping areas post race.

Tech companies still throw them. Weezer played one year at the Amazon party.. We had Mackelmore and some other people I don't care about other years.

I've always found company holiday parties a bit awkward. My employer this year gave us an extra day off around Christmas instead of having a holiday party - it's a fair trade to me.

Mostly dead. My company (50,000 employee automotive/industrial supplier) does a holiday luncheon at some of the plants where they feed us a large meal, but I wouldn't call it a company party. It's only for that one building and you still have to go back to work afterward.

This is the first year my company isn't doing one. We don't have a space in the building big enough to fit everyone.

They typically do a pretty kickass summer party, which is an acceptable substitute. This year it was at the New England Aquarium.

My company is about 325 people in size now. The official "party" is a 2 hour luncheon / recognition event at the local country club.

the post party involves roughly half that number taking over a random bar for the several hours after. Alcohol off the company time slot.

We had ours last week at the managing partner's home. It was catered by a really nice restaurant in town and the food was excellent. I probably ate my weight of roast beef with horseradish sauce. And fried pimento cheese balls!

No party here for years. But everyone does get a small box of chocolate, so there's that. The upside is that there's no need for mind-numbing small talk with random spouses. I had to go to my wife's company party and I wanted to stick pretzels in my ears.

My current employer - small company of 2 partners and 3 employees - usually but not always does something nice for us and our spouses. It's ranged from group dinner at a decent local place to an overnight blowout in Manhattan with a seriously good dinner, comedy show, more drinks, and hotel. It's usually in January or early February which is, frankly, better.

DW works at a large multinational corporation. They used to have a self + spouse holiday party for her entire site, but that's pretty much disappeared. Now the various sections go to lunch on various days shortly before the break.

They are definitely dwindling, but it seems like the smaller businesses keep it going.

Way back when I worked for a small family owned grocery chain (they had two stores), they had them on Christmas Eve at the store in the back room. While you were working, they would have tons of food and it was cool. Sometime later in the day, the owners would show up and the booze would start flowing, even for on-the-clock people. Those were fun times. Pounding beers in the dairy fridge? Don't mind if I do! I bet they still do it, too.

My previous employer had them. Under the old CEO, they had a party during work, which was catered, and they had door prizes. That was nice. Then, the CEO retired, and was replaced by Scrooge himself. Seriously, he cut all the parties and expenses, and would wait until the holidays for the annual rounds of layoffs w/no severance packages like they used to give. The employee work/life groups decided to take over the holiday party responsibilities It was a multi-billion dollar corporation making record amounts of money, but you had to pay admission to the party venue and then pay for food and drinks. Needless to say, I didn't go once.

I quit that hellhole a year ago and got a job at a much smaller company. The new place has them, and they have it in the clubhouse of a gated neighborhood. It's free to go, open bar all night (with everything available!), and the food is buffet-style and amazing. We had ours last week. I counted 6 different perfectly prepared creatures from the land, sea, and air on my plate at the same time. That was impressive.

I'm glad you guys at GRM are doing a party. When you work at a smaller place, the sense of family can be felt at functions like these.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

DW and I get along really well with 1 partner's spouse. The other partner's spouse is a complete twit, and so is one of my coworker's. I mean it's hard not to just laugh in their faces with some of the stupid crap they say. The other coworker and his wife are pretty cool.

Ours was last week. Each branch office holds its own party. We've added so many people this year we had to find a new place and it was great. Open bar and excellent food. No spouses; employees only. It was actually nice as a number of people in our office work at client sites and are rarely actually "in" the office, so we can talk to new people.

It started at 4:30 and I left around 8. Apparently, there were a few who may have overstayed their welcome. Hopefully, we'll be welcomed back next year.

Ive never had a company holiday party for employees. We as staff in residential facilities were expected to throw them, and then work on the holiday for the same pay.

So glad i said berkeley that E36 M3 after last Christmas.

This year the new company is giving us a training on Thursday, friday and monday off.

Last year, my company (about 75 employees) threw a beautiful catered bash at the boss's house- open bar, gourmet food. Very nice event. They brought people in from all over the state and paid for hotels for the out-of-towners so they didn't have to drive after drinking.

This meant the boss's house was a shambles for 3 days afterward.

This year they've scaled it back- 3 separate parties in our 3 primary working areas. Luncheons at local restaurants- pay the bill and leave. It will also mean far fewer hotel rooms and spouses.

I liked the old way- it gave me a chance to meet people I didn't get to see most of the time (from our other offices). I get the scaling it back, but I'm glad they retained something.

Ours was last Friday. Small company. At a local restaurant/bar. Spouses welcome. Open menu and bar. Ate nothing all day. Started at two, binge drank until about six, at home puking by seven, slept most of the day Saturday. Good times.

When I worked at Comcast, they would have an "All-Area" party for several offices.

By the time I left, it was a supervisor giving you a $5 Dunkin' Donuts gift card.

Duke wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: DW and I get along really well with 1 partner's spouse. The other partner's spouse is a complete twit, and so is one of my coworker's. I mean it's hard not to just laugh in their faces with some of the stupid crap they say. The other coworker and his wife are pretty cool.

At least stupid stuff is entertaining. It's the mind-numbing bland platitudes that get me. I just can't do it. I also don't drink, which isn't helping, and I don't find drunk people funny. This makes me bad at parties overall.

Not really.

The Engineering/Quality group here is ordering Pizza and playing Dirty Santa tomorrow.

The company I'm going to work for is having their party Friday night. But I don't start until Monday. :(