Some Companies Are Ditching the Holiday Party. Others Are Busting Out the Lobster.

Time to break out your ugly Christmas sweater and do some vocal warm-ups for karaoke. More in-person office holiday parties are back after two years of being canceled, downsized or moved onto Zoom.

From formal banquets in fancy hotels to team talent shows at the office, this year 57% of U.S. companies surveyed said they are holding holiday parties this season—more than double last year and up from 5% in 2020, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an outplacement and executive-coaching firm that conducted the research. 

Among the employers that are pressing ahead with their fêtes this year, some have decided to go big to make up for two years of missed celebrations.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is planning in-person parties for employees and, in many cases, their guests in 65 U.S. offices after suspending such events during the pandemic. Themes and venues vary by location, said Paul Griggs, a vice chair who oversees offices that employ 65,000 people. In Washington, D.C., the accounting and consulting firm will party at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In Philadelphia, workers will celebrate “Holidays Around the World,” with multicultural food and entertainment, and local artisans demonstrating crafts, at a hotel downtown.

Despite economic jitters, companies in the Philadelphia area don’t appear to be scaling back in size or budget, said Doug Quattrini, director of sales at Feastivities Events.

“One or two have commented that since they weren’t able to hold parties for so long, they are ready to go all out,” he said.

One client, a firm holding its first holiday party since 2019, booked the Stotesbury Mansion, invited 150 guests—its most ever—and requested a raw bar of seafood, imported cheese and charcuterie display, tapas bar and carving station with filet and ahi tuna, with Bananas Foster flambé as the capper, Mr. Quattrini said.

Unlike prepandemic years when some employees were eager to attend a big bash, now some have to be cajoled to show up.

KDG, a technology-services company in Allentown, Pa., with around 60 employees, is using a companywide meeting to lure its employees to socialize together again, by combining the business event with its first in-person holiday party since 2019.

“It’s sort of a buy-one, get-two situation,” said Chief Executive Kyle H. David. “Since Covid, a lot of people got out of the habit of happy hours and camaraderie events. We’ve sort of had to make it hard to deny in order to get people really back into the rhythm.”

Quantum MetricInc., a digital-product design company based in Colorado Springs, Colo., held its first in-person holiday gathering in three years in early November, flying employees to Atlanta before the holiday rush. The three-day event included the company’s annual meeting, a formal dinner in the Omni Atlanta Hotel’s ballroom with a DJ and dancing, and a talent show. About 500 employees and their families, plus customers attended, with some staffers flying in from as far as Italy and Spain.

“Even the skeptics who said ‘What? Three days?’ loved it,” said Efrat Ravid,

After virtual holiday parties in 2020 and 2021, Mike Hanson, a regional vice president in sales who has been with Quantum Metric for four years, was thrilled to see the holiday party make a comeback.

“That energy that builds when you have more than 500 people together—that’s really hard to eclipse,” he said. 

Still, the number of companies holding holiday parties is below prepandemic levels, down from nearly 75% of companies hosting one in 2019, Challenger said. 

While many companies in sectors such as finance and law have moved forward with big celebrations, 17% of employers cited economic conditions as a reason to hold off, Challenger said. Some technology companies have put holiday-party plans on ice as a result of cost cutting or not wanting to appear tone-deaf amid recent rounds of layoff announcements in the sector.

Crunchbase Inc., a financial-data provider, had planned for 500 guests—employees and their plus ones—to travel to San Francisco for a masquerade ball that would be its first in-person holiday party since 2019. But in mid-November, the company canceled it.

“It certainly felt like the climate out there was not appropriate for throwing an elaborate party,” said Chief People Officer Kelly Scheib.

Other companies such as financial-services firm Edward Jones didn’t want to wait until December to stage parties for staffers and started celebrating together earlier in the year, such as company anniversary parties or summer picnics, as Covid-19 fears eased, said managing partner Penny Pennington.

Law firm Sidley Austin LLP put on shindigs for Halloween at offices in Chicago, New York, Miami, San Francisco and Dallas, said Yvette Ostolaza, management committee chair. The law firm is also resurrecting its year-end holiday party for employees and clients at restaurants or hotels in many cities where it operates, after skipping the parties in 2020 and 2021.

After a couple of years without co-worker merriment, Jo-Ann Rolle said she is seeing the festivities with fresh eyes and is really looking forward to it. The dean of the business school at Medgar Evers College-the City University of New York said this year’s party, held in a dining hall at the school, will include a talent show, ornament competition, karaoke and prizes for ugliest sweater and best holiday dress, according to the invite.

“I might not be part of the karaoke, but I’ll be there cheering and urging those who are brave enough to go forward,” she said.

-Emily Glazer contributed to this article.

Write to Ray A. Smith at [email protected]