The results from this year’s HR Hero annual holidays survey are very similar to years past and it doesn’t appear that the number of holidays granted in 2009 will be different than in 2008 or previous years. The one difference is that July 4, 2009 will be on a Saturday. Because of that, many of respondents reported that your workplace will observe July 3 as a paid holiday.
You might be particularly interested in the answers to the last question in the survey — an open-ended question about how the economy might affect office holiday celebrations and annual bonuses. Some said that there would be no change. Some said that holiday parties would be scaled back or cancelled because of budget crunches. It appears that pot luck lunches at the office are going to be back in vogue. Several people also explained some creative ways that their organizations are cutting back while trying to do something for employees – such as giving the day after Christmas as a paid holiday in lieu of having an office party and gifts.
Now, before you look at the results, we had a few technical glitches on the morning that the email about the survey was sent. There was about a 2 hour period when only a portion of the questions in the survey were available. Because of that, the percentages on the answers to the surveys don’t add up to 100. But, it is still obvious which holidays are popular and they do line up with answers from previous years.