Vox Media isn't having an open bar at its holiday party this year, instead giving each employee two drink tickets, HuffPost reported Friday, and that seems to be part of a larger trend this year as companies try to mitigate the risk of unwanted sexual advances or misadventures among coworkers. Only 49 percent of companies plan to serve any alcohol at their holiday functions, down from a recent high of 62 percent last year, according to a survey by the consulting firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas.
Many of the companies that are offering free libations are also putting in place some safeguards, a Bloomberg Law survey found — asking bartenders or staff to keep an eye on excessively tippling employees, limiting the numbers of freebies, or putting a time limit on the open bar — and the National Federation of Independent Businesses endorses all those, plus foregoing the mistletoe, which some companies apparently have thought was a good idea.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - January 11, 2025Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - a welcome kiss, a kiss goodbye, and more
-
5 evergreen cartoons about Trump annexing GreenlandCartoons Artists take on changing priorities, taking a putt, and more
-
The New Jersey 'UFO' drone scareIn the Spotlight Reports of mysterious low-flying aircraft provoked outlandish theories, but old-fashioned hysteria appears to have been to blame
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
