Is 2023 the year of the office holiday party’s comeback? These local businesses think so

As COVID-19 fears spread and people stayed distant, many companies snipped their typical end-of-year holiday party.

Fast forward to 2023 when inflation soared and many people continued to work from home, and it seems colleagues getting together has never been more important.

“It really does feels like the office Christmas party is back,” said Kent Shelton, general manager of the Knitting Factory.

During December 2019, the CenterPlace Regional Event Center in Spokane Valley hosted 12 offices parties, according to Jill Smith, communications manager for the City of Spokane Valley, which operates the space.

This year, the center is hosting 19 parties.

In December of this year, the Montvale Event Center will host 10 parties. The previous two years combined, it hosted just 12.

The Steam Plant Restaurant & Brew Pub will host 30 parties during December. This is double last year’s 15 parties.

And the Knitting Factory, including its sister-space, the District Bar, will host seven holiday parties in December, Shelton said.

“We’re not where we were before the pandemic, but there has been more this year than last year, and certainly more than we had the year before that,” he said.

Shelton said many of the companies and charities that booked parties had done so before COVID but decided this year to return.

“Inflation was such a worry,” he said. “But now I think companies have realized it may have saved some money to not have a party, but also that they’re really losing something if you don’t do some sort of holiday event for their employees.”

Even with employers like Spokane Teachers Credit Union, which has 970 employees, an end-of-the-year party is essential. The company welcomes employees from all 28 branch locations in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, Tri-Cities and the Columbia Basin, according to Marty Dickinson, chief marketing officer.

STCU avoids religious denominations and the hectic month of December by hosting its party in January. Its party to celebrate 2022, but held in 2023, was hosted at the First Interstate Center for the Arts.

At the party, employees competed in a company-wide talent show.

“We had a team of tap dancers, a pianist and a gentleman who won by playing the guitar and singing a song from ‘Little Mermaid,’ ” Dickinson said.

“We have an employee in marketing who paints with glue and so you don’t see anything until she throws glitter and this whole beautiful picture shows up,” said Dan Hansen, communication specialist.

Dickinson and her team try to be imaginative with their parties instead of the typical open bar and dance floor.

This year’s party will be a lip-sync battle between teams of employees – including a team of executives. Over 1,000 employees and their plus-ones have committed to attending the event at the Spokane Convention Center.

“Who wouldn’t like to get dressed up and come and watch your leaders make fools of themselves?” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said the credit union is mindful of the potential harm that can occur at office gatherings when booze and colleagues mix.

“I mean, how many Christmas movies have been about an office party gone bad?” she said. “But our folks do a really good job of partying in the right spirit.”

But employee engagement surveys indicated STCU workers overwhelmingly wanted a holiday party, Dickinson said.

This follows national trends.

Only 12% of workers in the U.S. feel unfavorably about office holiday parties, while some 61% either like or love them, according to Finance Buzz, an online business database.

Understanding that there is potential harm, some companies have designed more contemporary parties to avoid troublesome situations.

“Are they the parties of the early 2000s?” Dickinson asked. “No, because we’re conscientious about how we go about doing it by doing fun events that engage employees to kind of create the entertainment themselves.”

This is because so much good can still come of office gatherings, according to Hansen.

“I found out I had a cousin that worked here at a party,” he said. “I’ve met past friends of my children’s friends who work here now, too.”

According to Dickinson, holiday parties are a sound investment in the workers of STCU.

“It pays for itself as we then go serve our members and have happy employees,” she said. “We see it as an investment in our culture and a retention tool because people like the camaraderie of an office gathering.

“It really matters to them.”