Employee Holiday Gifts in 2026: What Employees Want
What do employees want from their companies for the holidays? Snappy’s 2026 Holiday Gifting Survey of 1,500 U.S. employees found that employees overwhelmingly want year-end recognition, but they also care about the types of gifts their companies give and how.
Among the findings:
- 84% of employees want a holiday gift from their employer, but only 57% say they currently receive one.
- 78% say a thoughtful year-end gift would motivate them heading into the new year.
- 68% have seen or heard about a gift from another employer and wished their company gave gifts like that.
- 44% say giving every employee the same gift feels outdated.
- 88% say how a company recognizes employees influences their perception of its culture at least somewhat.
- 86% say thoughtful employee recognition would make them more likely to choose one employer over an otherwise similar job opportunity.
The takeaway is that employees want corporate holiday gifts to feel thoughtful, personal, and relevant to their life and interests.
As Snappy's gifting experts put it during our 2026 Holiday Gifting Kickoff webinar: “Good gifting should not be complicated. A few simple principles can make a big difference.”
Here's what the research tells us about getting holiday gifting right in 2026.
Do employees want holiday gifts from their employers?
Yes. 84% of employees surveyed said they want a holiday gift from their employer. Only 57% said their company currently gives them one.
That gap matters because employees don't see holiday gifts as just another workplace perk.
A thoughtful year-end gift can be a tangible way for a company to say, “we noticed what you contributed this year, and we appreciate it.”
The best part? Employees say that feeling can carry into the new year.
78% of employees surveyed said receiving a thoughtful holiday gift would make them somewhat or much more motivated heading into the new year.
That makes holiday gifting both an end-of-year appreciation opportunity and a chance to create momentum for coming in 2027.
What makes a good employee holiday gift?
A good employee holiday gift feels personal, useful, and appropriate to the recipient. It doesn't necessarily need to be expensive, but it should feel like thought went into it.
In Snappy's 2026 survey, 43% of employees said a good gift “feels personal to me.”
That doesn't mean that the person in charge of holiday gifts needs to shop for each gift for hundreds or thousands of people.
Personalization can come from the gift itself, the choices offered, the message accompanying it, or simply recognizing the right person at the right moment.
During the webinar, the Snappy team explained:
“Personalization doesn't mean picking a different gift for every person. The message, the timing, and acknowledging why you're doing a celebration for someone can be just as important.”
That's an important distinction for companies trying to make recognition personal at scale.
Should employees be able to choose their own holiday gifts?
Giving employees a choice can make company-wide holiday gifting more personal because different employees value different things.
A “one-size-fits-all” gift that everyone loves becomes increasingly difficult to identify as workforces grow.
Employees have different interests, styles, homes, hobbies, dietary preferences, family situations, sizes, and ideas about what makes a great gift.
Employees are ready to move beyond the traditional “get everyone the same gift” approach: 44% of employees surveyed said giving every employee the same gift feels outdated.
That’s why Snappy offers recipient-choice gifting.
During the webinar, one of Snappy’s gifting experts captures why recipient choice works so well.
She recently bought a house and chose power tools as her gift.
“That's not necessarily something that someone would know to gift me. But it's what I needed, and wanted, at the moment.”
Other Snappy employees talked about choosing a Dyson vacuum, kitchen knives, and even a flight.
Those gifts have almost nothing in common.
That's the point.
The best gift for one employee isn't a gift another employee would want or choose.
Does a thoughtful holiday gift actually affect employee motivation?
Yes. 78% of employees in Snappy's 2026 survey said a thoughtful year-end gift would make them more motivated heading into the new year.
That is particularly relevant because holiday recognition happens at a natural transition point.
Employees aren't only wrapping up December. They're powering through Q4, prepping for holiday breaks, and heading into a new year of goals, kickoffs, and priorities.
A meaningful year-end gesture can help connect those moments: end the year with appreciation and begin the next one with momentum.
That doesn't mean a gift can compensate for a poor employee experience. It does mean that employee recognition can reinforce the feeling that their contribution was noticed.
Can employee gifts affect company culture?
Employees say the way companies recognize their people influences how they perceive company culture.
In Snappy's 2026 research, 88% of employees said the way a company recognizes and celebrates employees influences their perception of the company's overall culture at least somewhat.
Recognition can influence they ways that people evaluate a potential employer.
When asked to imagine two otherwise similar job opportunities, 86% said knowing one company was known for thoughtfully recognizing and celebrating employees would make them somewhat or much more likely to choose that company.
Employees notice what happens outside their own workplace.
68% said they've seen or heard about a gift someone received from another employer and wished their own company gave gifts like that.
In other words, employee appreciation is a key part of an employer brand.
The way your company recognizes people becomes part of the story employees tell about what it's like to work there.
What are the biggest corporate holiday gifting trends for 2026?
The biggest holiday gifting trends for 2026 emphasize comfort, personalization, experiences, design, and gifts people will actually use.
Based on what Snappy’s gifting experts are seeing this holiday season, four themes stand out.
The cozy reset
After a busy year, gifts centered around comfort and downtime are resonating.
Think Lola blankets, loungewear, beauty and wellness products, and other gifts that encourage recipients to slow down.
The trend reflects what Snappy’s gifting experts described during the webinar as a desire to “cozy up” at the end of a busy year.
Playful nostalgia
Board games, group activities, and screen-free entertainment are having a big moment this holiday season.
These gifts aren't just about nostalgia. They offer something increasingly valuable: an excuse to disconnect from a screen and spend time doing something fun.
Design-forward technology
Tech gifts remain popular, but employees don't have to choose between functionality and style.
Wearable technology, wellness devices, smart home products and digital frames increasingly combine usefulness with products people actually want to wear or display.
Premium food and experiences
Not every memorable gift needs to become another object in someone's home.
Corporate gift baskets, entertainment, travel, and other experiences give employees something to enjoy or remember instead. Snappy's holiday experts highlighted everything from gourmet meals and specialty food gifts to travel and entertainment during the webinar. Pasted text
The broader lesson is more important than any individual trend:
Think beyond “stuff.”
As Snappy’s gifting experts said:
“Experiences, food, wellness, and other options give people more ways to choose something that feels really relevant to them.”
Is company swag a good holiday gift?
Company swag can be a good employee holiday gift when it is high quality, useful, and something employees actually want to wear or use.
The 2026 survey makes that distinction especially clear.
When employees were asked what makes company swag something they actually want to use, the two most frequently selected attributes were:
Quality: 44%
Usefulness: 44%
Style was also important, selected by 34%.
The message is clear: employees judge swag like they judge anything else they own.
A company logo alone doesn't make an ordinary product special.
For holiday gifting, companies should think about the quality, design, usefulness, and desirability of the item first, and their branding second.
How important is personalization in employee gifting?
Personalization matters because employees want their recognition to feel like it was specifically intended for them, not simply distributed to them.
Personalization can mean letting employees choose from gifts that match different interests. It can mean sending a message that explains specifically what you're thanking someone for. It can mean recognizing the right milestone at the right time.
The distinction is between personalized recognition and individualized procurement.
Companies can make the experience feel personal without manually choosing a different gift for every recipient.
That is particularly important for distributed and global workforces, where a one-size-fits-all approach becomes operationally challenging.
Will human recognition become more important as AI changes work?
There are early signs employees think it will.
37% of respondents in Snappy's 2026 survey said human moments of recognition and appreciation are becoming more valuable as AI takes over routine workplace tasks.
That's an interesting signal for employers.
As more workplace interactions become automated, moments that are explicitly human, like saying thank you, celebrating an accomplishment, or recognizing a milestone, stand out more, not less.
Technology can make recognition easier to deliver at scale.
But the experience still needs to feel human.
When should companies start planning holiday gifts?
Companies should start planning holiday gifting well before December, particularly if they are sending custom swag, gifting internationally, or coordinating gifts across a large workforce.
Start with three questions:
Who are we recognizing?
Build the recipient list early and account for remote employees, global teams, and new hires.
What are we trying to accomplish?
Decide whether the program is about appreciation, celebrating performance, strengthening customer relationships, marking the end of the year — or some combination.
When do gifts need to arrive?
Work backward from that date.
Internal approvals, custom swag production, international gifting, shipping, and holiday PTO can all create additional deadlines.
New hires are particularly easy to overlook during year-end planning. Snappy's gifting experts called them “one of our most forgotten groups.”
And the simplest planning advice from the webinar may also be the most useful:
“The earlier you get moving, the more options you're going to have.” Pasted text
The 2026 Gifting Playbook: 5 rules for better holiday gifting
Snappy's holiday gifting experts boiled the advice down to five principles.
1. Give people choice
The larger and more diverse the group, the less likely it is that one gift will delight everyone. Give recipients enough choice to find something relevant to them.
2. Make it personal
Personalization isn't only about the product. The message, timing, and reason for recognition can make a gift feel much more meaningful.
3. Think beyond “stuff”
Consider experiences, food, wellness, hobbies,s and other categories alongside traditional physical gifts.
4. Match the gift to the moment
Holiday gifting should feel connected to genuine appreciation for the work, partnership, or contribution that came before it.
5. Plan ahead
Starting earlier means more gift options, more time for customization, and fewer last-minute decisions. Pasted text
The common thread is simple:
The best employee holiday gift isn't necessarily the most expensive gift. It's the one that makes someone feel like there was thought behind it.
About the research
Snappy's 2026 Holiday Gifting Survey surveyed 1,500 U.S. employees about workplace holiday gifting, recognition, appreciation, and company swag.
