It’s that time of the year again when Japanese companies hold parties to see off the previous year and usher in the new. According to two different surveys, Japanese companies seem extremely enthused about the events – but Japanese employees could care less.
On the one hand, research firm Tokyo Shoho Research (TSR) surveyed thousands of companies to ask if they were throwing a year-end or so-called “forget-the-year” party (忘年会; bounenkai) or a New Year party (新年会; shinnenkai). The results: a full 3,891 companies, or 59.6%, plan to hold some type of shindig. That’s the most since the global health crisis and a 3.7 point rise from the previous year.
When asked why they were throwing parties (multiple answers allowed), 87.1% said it was to improve enmity and friendship among employees. 51.1% said they wanted to boost morale.
However, it seems most employees in Japan don’t want their morale boosted.
A survey by Cross Marketing of 1,100 men and women ages 20 to 69 across Japan asked if they planned on attending year-end parties. A full 65.9% said they had no plans to hold or attend a year-end party. 12.9% said they’d already attended one, while 21.2% said they were planning to.
When asked what prevented them from going, only around 4.3% said that they couldn’t go because no one had invited them to a party. 52% said they just had no interest.
Another survey of 600 people by Axxis, which found a majority (54%) not interested in attending, drilled into why people didn’t want to go. A majority, 40%, said they’d rather prioritize personal time. 19% cited the cost (attendees at year-end work parties traditionally pay out of their own pockets), with 12% still citing feeling hesitant due to the pandemic.
We noted a similar trend away from year-end work parties back in 2019 when anti-work party hashtags trended on Twitter. In one survey at the time, 36.3% of respondents said they thought the right number of end-of-year work parties to attend was zero.
Another factor in the decline of the year-end work party may be Japan’s non-alcoholic boom, which has resulted in more people dipping out of drinking-centered events.
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Sources
忘・新年会「実施」は59.6％、コロナ禍後の最高 宴会は「労働時間ではない」90.2％、認識にギャップ. TSR
今年の忘年会、すでに行った・予定ありは34％ 久しぶりに会える、少人数、一次会ですっきり終わる会が好まれる. Cross Marketing (via PRTimes)
半数の人は忘年会に参加したくないと回答/日本国内の忘年会に関する意識調査. Axxis (via PRTimes)
