Halloween: To Dress Up Or Not To Dress Up

To dress up or not to dress up, that is the question…

Today is Halloween and thousands of employees are dressing up in costume across this great country.  They don their scariest, most political or cutest costumes in hopes of winning the office costume contest.  But just how many people actually participate in this ritual?

Well, from the looks of my FaceBook sream, I’d say that a ton of my friends work at companies that celebrate the holiday. After all, it’s fairly non-controversial, save for the occasional employee that shows up in a not-so-work-appropriate getup.  So, why do companies participate and why do some avoid it?  I found a fun survey on GlassDoor that gives us the scoop.  Consider the facts:

• The survey shows that two out of five companies (40%) celebrate Halloween in the office.  The downside is that 48% of HR professionals, office managers or administrative assistants are likely to be on point for planning any celebrations.
• More than half (52%) of employees say they are likely or very likely to participate in employer-hosted Halloween fun.
• Nearly half (46%) of employees aren’t sure if their employer has a policy around work-appropriate Halloween attire.  So here we are, back to the HR policy creation.
• Nearly one in three (29%) hope their boss will dress up for Halloween at work.

So, what say you?  Do you work in an office or company that celebrates the ghouls?  Does it lead to some HR horror stories?  Be sure to share it all in the comments and for more fun Halloween survey results, check out the GlassDoor blog.