Many company holiday parties are more subdued this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Inflation, higher interest rates and layoffs in some sectors, as well as employees’ moods in the aftermath of these factors, have contributed to the need to cut back on expenses for the traditional end-of-year celebrations.

Technology-staffing firm Brixton Group is one example of a company scaling back its seasonal celebrations. Last year, remote staff and their plus-ones were flown to Charlotte, N.C., for a weekend that included a cocktail-attire dinner party. This year, after reductions in force and budget, the company will pay for burgers and beers at a brewery one night this week.

“For us to have this great brouhaha and celebrate doesn’t seem right,” Vice President Sean Slater told the Journal.

Surveys cited by the Journal illustrate the seasonally affected distemper of the times.

Fifty-five percent of more than 6,000 people polled said they weren’t planning to attend their company’s holiday party this year, according to a LinkedIn survey. And while a November poll by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that 64 percent of the more than 200 companies surveyed were planning gatherings this year, up from 57 percent in 2022,  the companies said they were cutting back on catering and alcohol, and favored their own premises rather than costly event space.

Some holiday parties have been pushed into the new year, as companies reach their fiscal spending limits, said Fausto Pifferrer, co-owner of Blue Elephant Events & Catering in Saco, Maine, in an interview with the Journal. He said he has only four corporate holiday parties this December, half the number he booked last year, but four in January. “They’re calling it a holiday party,” he said, noting that the costs for everything from venues to tableware are 25 percent less in January.

Still, some workers continue to say that companies should forgo celebrations and pay staff with the money not spent on parties. It is nice to have a party but bonuses would be better, said Chris Worman, who plans to attend his test-prep services company holiday party in January. “In the times we’re in, it’s money that could be better used elsewhere,” told the Journal.

Employees who would rather do anything than spend more time with co-workers should think again, said J.T. O’Donnell, a career coach in Portsmouth, N.H., who added that bosses take notice when workers put in the effort.

Dallas commercial litigation firm Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors held its annual holiday party at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, and about 40 employees and their guests attended, a similar turnout to past years.

“It’s absolutely an investment,” senior associate Will Brewer IV told the Journal, while declining to say how much the firm spent. “But it’s one that is worth it to reflect on everyone’s achievements.”