The Christmas party is cancelled. How will you celebrate instead?

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind year so it feels crazy that we’re already talking about our usual festive end of year fun, the Christmas Party! At a time when we usually start parting with our Christmas party deposits and getting all excited about company festivities, there’s one thought in everyone’s mind – what is going to be the difference this year?

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that your 2020 company celebrations will likely be a lot different than the norm but hey, I think a lot of us expected it. It looks like plans will be minus the company-wide parties where let’s face it, not a lot of social distancing goes on.

It’s no wonder many companies across the UK have already cancelled their Christmas plans and with that in mind, it doesn’t surprise us that 74% of our customers say they are definitely not planning a party this year at all.

Are we putting our party shoes away this Christmas?

All these factors beg the question – how are employers going to celebrate Christmas with staff this year? Well, we surveyed a number of our clients to find out.

From those giving the Christmas party a miss, it looks like many companies haven’t yet got Christmas gifts at the top of their mind. This is likely due to all the uncertainty with finances and budgets, which has changed attitudes towards Christmas celebrations.

On the contrary, alternative rewards are already on the radar for some companies as 35% are planning an alternative way to celebrate their staff, with that number expected to increase dramatically over the coming months.

So, is it looking like a Zoom Christmas party? Well that was one of the alternative rewards we quizzed our clients about, but closer to the top came gifting cards and vouchers instead, as well as offering cash gifts and a staff rewards scheme.

It looks like some employees might also benefit from an extra days holiday at Christmas too, with this being another popular alternative. Socially distanced parties were on the cards for some, but the Christmas budget has been moved for a 2021 summer party instead.

Overall it doesn’t look like company Christmas celebrations are cancelled, it just looks like we’ll be celebrating in a different kind of way. So, will your company continue to embrace the festivities or have the challenges posed by the pandemic put a dampener on your Christmas spirit?