NEW YORK — Say goodbye to virtual wine tastings, and bust out the karaoke. Love them or hate them, company holiday parties are back — in a toned-down kind of way.
After more than two years of working in pajama bottoms and clinking glasses over Zoom, many office workers seem to be yearning for a bit of glamour. The same is true for some front-line workers who saw festivities canceled even as they showed up to work every day during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It just always makes me feel special,” said Shobha Surya, who missed treating herself to a new dress every year for the dinner and karaoke party thrown by Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition North America, a Japanese-owned company based in the Chicago area. She was so excited the party was back for the first time in two years that she picked out her black-and-white cocktail dress two months in advance.
Shobha Surya, center, talks with coworkers at her company holiday party on Dec. 9 in Schaumburg, Ill. Surya was so excited the party was back on this year that she picked out her black-and-white cocktail dress two months in advance.
“Everybody let loose,” she said, smiling the Monday after the party, where she accepted a recognition award for 15 years at the company. “It gets you into the holiday season.”
More than 57% of companies are planning in-person holiday celebrations this year, according to a survey of 252 U.S.-based companies conducted by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a hiring firm. While that’s still notably fewer than the 75% that threw parties in 2019, it’s a big leap from 26% in 2021 and 5% in 2020.
Even before the remote work revolution, some people were pushing back at the idea of “forced fun” at work.
