The economy is slowly recovering, and so are holiday parties, according to a recent BLR poll. Despite many employers having tight budgets, the poll shows an increase in the percentage of organizations maintaining a budget for their year-end celebration.
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Get Your Report Now!The poll asked respondents, “How will your 2010 holiday party compare with yours in 2009?” The 2010 results are below, compared with results from the same poll run in December 2009.
Compared to last year's holiday party ... |
2009 |
2010 |
| The budget will be about the same. |
37% |
45% |
| We didn't have one last year and won't have one this year either. |
20% |
22% |
| The budget will be smaller. |
24% |
16% |
| The budget will be bigger. |
4% |
7% |
| We had one last year but won't this year. |
14% |
6% |
| We didn't have one last year but will this year. |
1% |
3% |
Holiday Party Budgets
This year's poll indicates a slight rise in the percentage of employers who are increasing their holiday party budget. In a similar trend, the percentage of employers who are decreasing their budgets has also dropped, from 24 percent in 2009, to 16 percent in 2010.
Canceling Holiday Parties
Over the past few years many employers have struggled financially to continue hosting holiday or end-of-the-year parties. While employers may see canceling holiday parties as a way to save money, more employers are seeing the value in keeping the celebrations. The poll shows that only 6 percent of respondents said their organization is canceling their annual holiday party, down from 14 percent last year.
Take this week’s poll.