The economic slowdown has impacted companies in various ways and they looking to cut costs at every opportunity possible. One such cost cutting measure being adopted by corporates is canceling year-end parties.
While New York-based Morgan Stanley has already cancelled its Christmas festivities this year, a number of Indian companies are following suit. They are either canceling or deferring their Christmas and New Year celebrations.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the largest professional services firms, has cancelled its year-end Christmas party in India. The party was supposed to be held in mid-December.
“This year’s Christmas party has been cancelled as a cost cutting measure. However, we have not yet got any official letter from the management. The news is a bit gloomy for employees as such parties create a relaxing atmosphere and give us a respite after a long year’s hard work,” commented Vaishali Jaiswal, a chartered accountant employed with PricewaterhouseCoopers in India. The management of the company was not available for comments.
BPO company HTMT Global Solutions, on the other hand, has deferred its annual day party, which generally takes place around December.
“We have postponed the annual day party keeping the current situation in mind. We’ll keep a watch and depending on the future scenario will organise it later on,” said Partha De Sarkar, CEO, HTMT Global Solutions. “However our anniversary parties and other things are happening from time to time; there has been no change in that,” he added.
Sources said that HTMT might hold the party later and have no plans of reducing the budget slated for it.
“Our headcount has gone up by 3000 in the last one year, so there is no possibility of any changes in the budget of this party from last year’s party,” said Sarkar.
Meanwhile, a few companies like Quatrro BPO Solutions and eClerx are sticking to their planned year-end parties.
“We are having the year-end party as was planned and are also not cutting down on the budget, as the money allocated for it is substantial. Moreover these events are important in boosting the morale of the employees, more so in the current situation,” said PD Mundhra, executive director, eClerx.