BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A lot changed and even disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, but one Christmas tradition survived: the work Christmas party.
Companies throwing holiday parties for employees has made this the busiest week of the year for Biebel’s Catering & Rental.
“It’s kind of a silly thing to think of, but we have clipboards that every order goes onto, and this week we almost ran out of clipboards. And that has never happened before,” said Heather Ohde, manager at Biebel’s.
However, Ohde says the types of parties have shifted.
“We do some holiday parties that are still at banquet halls and it’s the sit-down dinner and you have the China plates and the nice meal.” But I think more and more people kind of just enjoy having that break in the work week and just having a nice lunch with coworkers.”
Up the street, at The Rite Place, out of office Christmas parties are still popular.
“We had about four of them on Saturday,” said Mark Van Rite, manager at The Rite Place.
“Saturdays are really booming for them. Just like several years ago, they start to book up and then they book year after year.”
While in-person gatherings are coming back, virtual work Christmas parties are predictably on the decline. Less than 2% of surveyed companies are hosting a Christmas party online and they weren’t even that popular at the height of the pandemic. In 2020, just 17% of surveyed companies hosted a work Christmas party virtually.
“It’s good to see the groups getting together again for sure,” said Van Rite. “You work hard all year long, you get to sit back and grab a meal and see what the others are doing and get together.”
A recent survey found 57% of companies were planning in-person Christmas parties this year. That is more than double compared to last year but still below the pre-pandemic level of 75% in 2019.
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