Tech & Biz

Recession-Era Holiday Parties: Tech Companies Scale Back

by Jordan Yerman | November 21, 2008 at 06:47 am

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As the economy heads south, tech companies are reigning in their holiday party plans. Not cancelling them altogether, but scaling back anything that could be seen as "excessive". This is partly due to sensitivity towards the ongoing layoffs that characterize this season so far, and partly as a preventative measure against future shortages.

On one hand, one cannot appear to be throwing money down the drain during a recession, but, on the other hand, holiday parties are good for morale, and the lack of a party would send a dire signal to a company's staff.

Even here at NowPublic, Leonard has told me in no uncertain terms that, should I want to photocopy my butt at the holiday party like last time, I must bring my own paper.

True, eliminating an evening of eggnog and sugar cookies won't help an ailing balance sheet that much; in the current financial downturn, it has a lot to do with appearances, too. "It's the economy, definitely, but it's also a lot of public perception," said Celia Chen, a New York-based event planner who runs the blog Notes on a Party.

"People don't want to seem like they're being gratuitous or over-the-top when their colleagues have lost their jobs. It's more of a responsible way to run your company," she said.

On the other hand, there's a delicate balance between appearing prudent in the face of hard times, and keeping employee morale afloat. Many tech companies are in trouble, but for the most part they are not in meltdown mode like financial services companies or in a continued downward spiral like print media companies. Perhaps because of this, event planners say they haven't seen the same cancel-everything attitude when it comes to tech companies that they've seen in other industries.