With Employee Appreciation Day coming up on March 1, 2024, business leaders across the country are researching the best ways to recognize their workforce. In the US, interest in employee appreciation day has surged nearly 50% since 2020, according to Google search data.
If you’re an employer, you might be considering employee recognition gifts for your staff. But what’s the right amount to spend? And what do employees really want?
Goody, a market leader in employee appreciation gifts, researched employee gifting trends using data from more than 7,500 companies on its platform.
The study reveals that – despite headlines about rising layoffs and job insecurity – employers are spending more than ever on gifts to celebrate their staff. It also revealed significant disparities in gifting by industry, and which types of gifts employees find most and least desirable.
How much should companies spend on Employee Appreciation Day gifts?
In 2024, most Employee Appreciation Day gifts will fall between $35 to $50 per person.
For Employee Appreciation Day 2023, companies spent an average of $42 per employee (including the cost of shipping and sales tax). On average, the items themselves cost $30.
That was up nearly 12% from Employee Appreciation Day 2022, when companies spent $37 per employee. That increase reflects the rising impact of inflation, as well as a persistently tight labor market in which employee retention continues to stay top of mind.
Large disparities by industry
When it comes to employee recognition gifts, not all industries behave the same. Our study found that highly skilled workers in tech, finance, professional services and healthcare received the most generous gifts from their employers. Employees in sectors like manufacturing, law enforcement, and aviation were the least likely to receive gifts from their management.
In spite of news coverage of a "techpocalypse," tech companies remained more generous with employee gifts than any other industry.
Most generous industries for employee gifts
- Tech (IT, Software and Internet)
- Marketing & Advertising
- Hospital & Health Care
- Financial Services
- Professional Services
Least generous industries for employee gifts
- Manufacturing
- Law Enforcement
- Airlines & Aviation
- Warehousing & Logistics
- Energy
What are the most popular gifts for Employee Appreciation Day?
Aside from how much to spend, the most common question that employers ask is what to get their staff.
At Goody, the most popular gift for Employee Appreciation Day 2023 was the Gift of Choice. With this option, an employer sets a price point and lets their recipient choose any (physical) gift they want in that price range.
Mostly frequently sent Employee Appreciation Day gifts:
- Gift of Choice
- Gift Cards
- Drinkware
- Candy & Snacks
- Tech
To gift card, or not to gift card?
For employers, whether or not to use gift cards is often a complicated decision. On the one hand, employees themselves often clamor for cash or gift cards. On the other hand, gift cards are forgettable and impersonal – and much more strictly taxed than physical items.
On Employee Appreciation Day 2023, 30% of employee gifts came in the form of gift cards. The remaining 70% were physical gifts.
On average, companies that sent gift cards were 47% less generous than those that sent physical gifts, with an average denomination of $22.
Which Employee Appreciation Day gifts do staff really want?
Our study revealed a meaningful gap between the top gifts that companies send and the gifts employees actually want.
By giving recipients the chance to swap or choose their gifts, Goody gains visibility into the most accepted – and, conversely, the least desired – types of gifts.
When given the choice, employees loved practical kitchen gadgets like air fryers and blenders. A surprisingly popular choice was beauty brands, such Patchology skin care products, as well as wellness brands like Therabody.
Most desired Employee Appreciation Day gifts (excluding gift cards):
- Kitchenware & Appliances
- Tech & Gadgets
- Wellness
- Drinkware
- Beauty Products
Thanks, but no thanks
While the vast majority of staff gifts are well received, not all categories perform equally in the eyes of employees.
The least popular type of employee gift is company swag, such as customized t-shirts or notebooks. On Goody, where employees can decline or swap gifts, about 30% of swag items were declined or swapped for non-swag alternatives.
The other categories that are most frequently swapped or declined include books and snacks. It turns out that employees have picky tastes in both food and literature.
That said, more than 70% employees do accept gifts from all of these categories – implying that even less popular gift categories are still seen as broadly desirable.
Key takeaways
- Amid a tight labor market and continued remote work, interest in Employee Appreciation Day gifts has risen to more than 2X pre-pandemic levels.
- In 2023, the average company sending Employee Appreciation Day gifts spent about $42 per team member, up nearly 12% from a year earlier.
- Despite widely publicized layoffs and headwinds, tech firms remain more generous with employee gifts than any other industry.
- Gift cards – while strictly taxable – remain a popular option, comprising about 30% of Employee Appreciation Day gifts.
- When given the option to choose or swap their gifts, employees’ favorite gift categories are kitchenware, tech, wellness products, drinkware, and beauty products.
- Among employees, custom-branded swag is the least popular type of gift, yet is still broadly desirable to most employees.
About the study
Research was conducted using data from Goody’s database of 7,500 business customers and examined more than 23,000 employee recognition gifts sent between 2021 and 2024.
About the author
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