Omicron Variant Sends Some Office Holiday Parties Back to Zoom

Recent news about the Omicron variant has injected more uncertainty into whether December party plans proceed. Many organizations with events early in the month say they are moving forward, but others with later dates say they may revise their plans or protocols.

Houston-based law firm AZA held an in-person holiday blowout with about 300 employees and guests on Dec. 1. “I’m comfortable enough that the vaccination numbers are now so high,” said John Zavitsanos, the firm’s managing partner. Masks weren’t required and the firm’s special events room was large enough that people didn’t have to be close together, he added.

The 5½ hour evening event featured ethnic food stations and Napa Valley winemakers, along with a DJ. All in all Mr. Zavitsanos hopes the evening made up for skipping last year’s party. “The Zoom thing is for the birds,” he said.

Companies scrambled to create virtual alternatives to the sometimes-corny corporate tradition last year. This year, in a survey of 182 human resources executives, 27% said their companies would hold in-person events, up from 5% in 2020, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., an outplacement firm.

“It’s the one thing we all look forward to on a yearly basis,” said Shahmeer Halepota, an attorney at AZA. He stayed for hours. “It was really nice to get together again and see people in this more relaxed atmosphere.”

Party City stores report higher demand for holiday-themed balloon displays and gingerbread houses from corporate clients. The data indicate that in-person office parties and customer-appreciation events are making a comeback this year, said Julie Roehm, Party City’s chief marketing and experience officer.

Some event planners said that after 20-plus months of remote work there is a pent up desire by employees and bosses to gather. Though many companies are opting for scaled-down celebrations or team-level events.

“They’re playing it safe, keeping them a little bit smaller,” said Doug Quattrini, director of sales at Feastivities Events in Philadelphia. His company is producing events with an attendant assembling plates of food for guests, or ones where guests pick up premade packages of party nibbles instead of ones with communal guacamole stations.

SAP SE, a global software company, is giving employees $100 each to expense their own holiday celebration, whether a small gathering for drinks with colleagues or a nice meal with a significant other, rather than convening the regional in-person parties previously attended by thousands of employees.

SAP considered going the virtual route again this year, but “we’ve all spent enough time in front of our computer screens,” said DJ Paoni, president of SAP’s North American division. The company decided on cash after surveying employees and finding “there’s still not a giant appetite for large group gatherings this year.”

“They were very generous and came up with a great option,” said Coco Bassi, strategic programs director for SAP’s Midwest region, who is using her $100 to splurge on “a nice bougie dinner” at home of saffron risotto with seared scallops and octopus.

“My dad would make a really nice dinner every Christmas Eve, usually with a risotto recipe, so I’m going to parlay that into a new tradition with my boyfriend,” she said.

Many companies had hoped they could resume in-person holiday parties this year, believing Covid-19 would be under control. The new variant, along with children under 5 being ineligible for vaccinations, plus ongoing divisiveness over the shots, means companies aren’t sure what to do, said Andy Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

More than half of about 120 vaccinated people who attended a company Christmas party at an upscale restaurant in Oslo, Norway, have since tested positive for Covid-19, with at least 13 confirmed to have the new variant.

Some people who work for KDG, a professional technology services company in Allentown, Pa., were hesitant to get together, so the company opted to keep this year’s holiday party virtual, said chief executive Kyle H. David. With news that Omicron is spreading, he said he feels the company made the right call.

Quantum Metric Inc., a product design company based in Colorado Springs, Colo., is holding a virtual holiday party, as it did last year, but employees in hubs in Colorado Springs, Bethesda, Md., Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and London can also attend small gatherings in person, said chief marketing officer Efrat Ravid.

Papaya Global, an Herzliya, Israel-based payroll and payment-management platform with U.S. offices in New York and Austin, is embracing hybrid options, holding an in-person holiday cocktail dinner at a restaurant in one city and a speakeasy in the other on the same evening. Then the company will hold a holiday lunch in the Austin office that people can also attend virtually. Remote employees will be projected on a big screen.

“We just want to try to give everyone an option,” said Jamie Wheeler, U.S. talent acquisition and HR operations partner. “We’re doing a Secret Santa at the lunch party and including our remote employees in that.”

Britni Rachal, a content writer for Papaya Global in Austin, plans to attend the party and luncheon in person, adding she likes the hybrid option because it is “thoughtful and inclusive.”

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said.

Write to Ray A. Smith at ray.smith@wsj.com