SHRM Poll: Holiday Parties in 2010? November 12, 2010

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Key Findings Can employees expect some holiday cheer at the end of 2010? 61% of organizations report planning to hold an end-of-year/holiday party for their employees this year. The percentage of companies that reported planning a year-end holiday party in 2009 was also 61%. Are more companies foregoing year-end holiday parties? Compared with 2009, fewer companies in 2010 reported not having parties due to the financial challenges, yet more companies have reported that their organization does not have such a practice in 2010 compared with It could be that some companies that stopped having parties due to financial challenges are not planning to reinstate these events. 2

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Is your organization planning to hold an end-of- year/holiday party for employees this year? 3 Note: “Not sure” responses were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Is your organization planning to hold its end-of- year/holiday party on-site or off-site? 4 Note: “Not sure” responses were excluded from this analysis.

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Industry Industry Manufacturing –other13% Health care, social assistance (e.g., hospitals, clinics)13% Services –professional, scientific, technical, legal9% Financial services (e.g., banking)8% Educational services/education8% Retail/wholesale trade6% Government/public administration—federal, state/local, tribal5% Insurance5% Other services (e.g., other nonprofit, church/religious organizations)4% 5 Note: n = 443. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) Industry Transportation, warehousing (e.g., distribution)3% High-tech3% Consulting3% Construction, mining, oil and gas2% Services—accommodation, food and drinking places2% Utilities2% Publishing, broadcasting, other media2% Association—professional/trade2% Real estate, rental, leasing1% Manufacturing—auto/auto-related1% Arts, entertainment, recreation1% Telecommunications1% Pharmaceutical1% Biotech1% Other5% 6 Note: n = 443. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Sector 7 Note: n = 443

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Staff Size 8 Note: n = 277

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Other 9 Note: n = 450 U.S.-based operations73% Multinational operations27% Single-unit company: A company in which the location and the company are one and the same 32% Multi-unit company: A company that has more than one location 68% Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 50% Each work location determines HR policies and practices 1% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices 48% Is organization a single-unit company or a multi- unit company? Are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both? Does the organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally? Note: n = 432 Note: n = 316. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. 15% of organizations indicated that employees at their work location were unionized. Note: n = 443

Holiday Parties in 2010? | ©SHRM 2010 SHRM Poll: Holiday Parties in 2010? Response rate = 18% Sample comprised of 472 randomly selected HR professionals randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership Margin of error is +/- 5% Survey fielded September 30 – October 19, Methodology For more poll findings, visit: Follow us on Twitter: