31 Inspiring Work Anniversary Ideas To Recognize Employees in 2025
As the French writer, Voltaire once said, “Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” Recognizing work anniversaries is a valuable way for a company to celebrate and acknowledge the individual contributions of its employees.
Work anniversary ideas are the starting point for celebrating and recognizing your employees’ accomplishments. Whether they hit their one-year or ten-year mark, there is always a perfect way to make their job anniversary memorable.
In this article, we share 31 work anniversary ideas for employees to help you get inspired.
Contents
Why work anniversaries are important
Work anniversary ideas to consider and implement
– Monetary and non-monetary gifts
– Celebrations and parties
– Work anniversary messages
– Remote work anniversaries
– 5-year work anniversaries
– 10-year work anniversaries
Celebrating work anniversaries: Best HR practices
Why work anniversaries are important
Work anniversaries, also referred to as “workiversaries”, provide organizations with a simple yet powerful opportunity to recognize and celebrate their employees.
When done well, a work anniversary is a milestone that builds employee loyalty and morale while giving companies a chance to reflect on people’s contributions and show them some well-deserved appreciation.
Work anniversary recognition plays an essential role in driving employee satisfaction, performance, and retention.
Work anniversary ideas to consider and implement
How you celebrate work anniversaries can vary widely, but the goal is always the same: make people feel appreciated. And the best part? There’s always a classy way to do that, no matter the budget or company size.
We’ve listed 31 work anniversary ideas for employees divided into six different categories to help you get inspired:
Monetary and non-monetary gifts
Gifts are one of the most direct ways to recognize a work anniversary, as they show appreciation and reward loyalty.
Depending on the company budget and culture, as well as the recipient’s preferences, you can use both monetary and non-monetary gifts. A well-timed gift can make someone feel valued, increasing the chance they’ll stay long-term.
1. Extra day off
At AIHR, every employee gets an additional day off for every year of service, starting on their first work anniversary. This is on top of the base allowance of 26 paid vacation days per calendar year. For example, an AIHR employee of four years is entitled to 30 paid vacation days.
2. Gift or cash voucher
AIHR also gifts employees vouchers on particular work anniversaries, such as a team dinner voucher for every employee who has worked at the company for 2.5 years. It’s a way to mark the halfway point to five years, recognize their contribution, and let them celebrate with their team: win-win.
3. Charity donation
Another option is to donate to a charity or charitable cause of your employees’ choice, for instance, if they prefer this over receiving a gift for themselves.
4. Employee stock options
Employee stock options (ESOs) can be a valuable job anniversary gift idea, especially for employees who have been with the company for a longer period, such as five or more years. As such, ESOs can also act as an effective employee retention strategy.
5. A “birthday” cake
A cake, cupcake, or other type of baked goods is a classic yet thoughtful idea. Depending on where the employee celebrates their workiversary, the cake ceremony can take place with the entire team in person or online.
6. A late morning
Give people the morning off on their work anniversary so they can sleep in, spend time with their loved ones, enjoy some extra downtime, or have brunch with friends. This is an excellent option, especially for those ‘younger’ job anniversaries (e.g., one and two years).
Celebrations and parties
Work anniversaries offer an excellent opportunity to celebrate an employee’s tenure at the company with their team and other members of the organization. They create a moment to recognize and appreciate someone and strengthen people’s relationships at work.
7. An (in-person) team celebration
Encourage managers to devise a way to celebrate their team members’ work anniversaries. This can be a fun brainstorming exercise with the whole team so that people are involved and engaged. As an HR team, you can share some ideas with managers if they need inspiration to get started.
8. Group activities for group anniversaries
If several people celebrate their work anniversaries simultaneously, you can consider organizing a group activity for them. Here are some work anniversary celebration ideas for groups:
- A karaoke night
- A pottery class
- A volunteering session.
These are just a few examples; the options are endless. An added benefit of organizing a group activity is that people of different tenures will have a unique opportunity to bond.
9. Lunch (or dinner) with the boss
While some employees may get nervous about this, others may love to have the opportunity to sit down for lunch (or dinner) with the company’s CEO/director. And what better occasion to do so than their two-, three-, or five-year work anniversary? This is also an excellent option for group anniversaries.
Make sure that people are actually excited about this and not stressed, as the whole point is to celebrate and not to worry.
10. Game night
Depending on the size of the company, organizing a game night can be a fun alternative to the classic office party. Games can include board games, card games, trivia games, and more. At the start of the evening, include a moment to celebrate those who have their work anniversaries.
11. A ceremony
People’s work anniversaries are something to recognize as an organization. Consider a simple, companywide ceremony once a month (or once every quarter, depending on the number of people) to mark your employees’ milestones.
Work anniversary messages
A heartfelt, written, or spoken anniversary message is a powerful (and budget-friendly) way to show people you care about them. It also adds a personal touch to whatever your job anniversary gift package looks like and should, therefore, always be a part of it.
12. Handwritten notes
Who doesn’t love a personal, handwritten note in this digital era? This can be a great team activity to recognize people’s work anniversaries. Encourage team members to write their colleagues a note to congratulate them and tell them what they appreciate about them.
13. Social media shout-outs
While not every employee will feel comfortable getting a social media shout-out, it can certainly be a nice way to recognize people’s workiversaries and show your appreciation as an employer for your employees to the outside world at the same time.
14. Highlighting specific achievements, projects, and successes
Encourage managers to collect information and anecdotes about some of the things the employees who are celebrating their work anniversary have done or achieved throughout their time at the company. Ask them to highlight these during, for instance, a team or companywide celebratory ceremony for the employee.
15. A personalized poem
Creating a personalized poem is another great idea to mark someone’s job anniversary. Ask everyone on the team a few questions about their colleague and then, for example, prompt ChatGPT to create a poem out of the collected answers.
If the team is working remotely or in a hybrid environment, you could give each team member a few phrases to read out while they film themselves and put everything together into a nice, personalized video message.
16. A surprise message from people outside the company
Many employees interact with people from outside the organization on a daily basis. These can be customers, supply chain partners, freelancers or contractors, and implementation partners. Often, your workers have great relationships with these ‘outsiders.’ How amazing would it be if some of them sent them a thoughtful note to congratulate them on their job anniversary?
Remote work anniversaries
According to Gallup, in the U.S., 26% of people with so-called remote-capable jobs work exclusively remotely, 55% work in a hybrid environment, and 19% work on-site. These stats emphasize the importance of having a backlog of work anniversary ideas for hybrid and remote employees.
17. A home office upgrade
People who work fully remotely spend a lot of time working from home. While your company may (should) already provide them with a home office stipend, their work anniversary is a great occasion to give them something more. Perhaps a nifty little office gadget, a technology upgrade, or simply some additional budget they can spend freely.
18. A team offsite
For fully remote teams, getting together in person is a special occasion that usually occurs only a few times a year. When someone on the team hits their 5th anniversary, see if you can arrange for a team offsite to celebrate together in person.
19. A personalized item to hang on their wall
The employees’ home office is a great source of inspiration for work anniversary gifts. What about a beautifully framed picture (or collection of images) of their team to decorate the wall? Or, if you want to do something even more artsy, a commissioned portrait or other type of artwork?
20. Having a growth talk
This is not something to do only with remote employees or only when people celebrate their work anniversary, but it is also a great occasion to do so. Especially with remote employees, as they can feel (or be) forgotten when it comes to promotional or other career growth opportunities in the organization.
21. Sending a gift
Sure, this is a classic idea, but sending them a surprise gift for their job anniversary makes a lot of sense when someone is physically in a different geographical location. Options vary greatly, from gift boxes and vouchers to flowers and company swag. You can let your creativity run freely here.
5-year work anniversaries
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average time employees stay with their employer in recent years has ranged between 3.9 and 4.2 years. Five years, therefore, is an exceptional milestone for most people and deserves to be celebrated properly.
22. A bucket list experience
Five years at the same company is a big milestone, especially in today’s world of work. To mark the occasion and support your employees’ dreams outside of work, you can offer them an experience they have on their personal bucket list.
23. A workshop or training in their area of expertise
Again, this may not be for everyone, but this can be a fabulous gift for employees who love to share their knowledge and expertise with coworkers. Ask them to give a workshop or training about their area of expertise to spotlight them and their work.
This is an excellent way to recognize people while giving others in the organization a unique opportunity to learn from their peers.
24. A personalized photo book
Five years is a long time – long enough for someone to do plenty of projects and create heaps of memories. As a team, collect pictures, videos, quotes, and whatnot to create a beautiful photo book for your colleagues so they will have a lasting memory of this milestone. Also, ask coworkers from other teams who regularly work with them if they have anything to share for the scrapbook.
25. Congratulations from the company’s CEO
Perhaps this is something your organization’s CEO does no matter what, but if you’re in a medium – or large-sized company, that is unlikely due to the sheer number of people working there.
However, for 5- (and 10-) year work anniversaries, it would be amazing if the CEO could write a personal note or send a personal video message to their employees to mark the occasion and show their appreciation.
26. A training experience of their choice
Many employees like to learn new skills or gain knowledge. Their job anniversary is an excellent moment to offer them an opportunity to learn something new and in a way they prefer.
Perhaps they want to attend a conference, take an online course, or receive a micro-mentoring session from the company’s CMO; whatever it is, try to accommodate them to the extent possible.
10-year work anniversaries
If the five-year mark is something hardly anyone hits these days, imagine how rare it is for an employee to stay with the same company for ten years. That’s why those who do deserve extra recognition for their loyalty and effort.
27. A trip to a destination of their choice
If the budget allows it, consider offering a selection of trips people can choose from. Try to include various options, as not everyone will want to go on a city break or lie on the beach, and let them take someone with them on their trip.
28. A monetary bonus
At the end of the day, most people appreciate a monetary bonus more than (almost) anything.
29. Throwing a party
You can always throw a party for a work anniversary, but when someone has been with the company for ten years, you almost have to. Invite former colleagues, clients they have known for years, business partners, their families, etc., and celebrate in style.
30. Asking them how they want to mark this milestone
After a decade in the same organization, employees may have seen it all, including in terms of work anniversary parties, gifts, and ideas. So why not ask them how they would like to commemorate this moment? Perhaps it’s something simple, maybe it’s not, but you can always ask.
31. Talking about what’s next
What ambitions or goals does someone have after ten years in the company? What’s next for them, and how do they see their future? Perhaps it’s time for a radical move into a different career path, or perhaps not. In any case, this is a meaningful conversation to have.
Celebrating work anniversaries: Best HR practices
Let’s take a look at some best practices for HR professionals to consider when coming up with a plan for celebrating work anniversaries:
- Plan in advance so milestones aren’t missed: The most important part of celebrating an employee’s job anniversary is to get the date right. Consider using your HRIS (or simply Excel) to track people’s anniversaries and automate reminders.
- Celebrate both publicly and personally: Work anniversaries are worth recognizing out loud—whether that’s a quick mention in a team meeting, a shout-out on internal channels, or even a LinkedIn post on the company’s profile. At the same time, it’s good to remember that not everyone loves the spotlight. Try to match the way you celebrate to the employee’s preferences so the recognition feels genuine. Some might appreciate a LinkedIn mention, while others value a thoughtful note or a small gesture just for them.
- Make it meaningful, not just routine: A generic message or gift can feel like a checkbox rather than real appreciation. Adding a personal touch—like referencing a recent achievement, a funny team moment, or a specific contribution—makes the recognition stick. Even small gestures can feel big when they’re thoughtful.
- Combine recognition with feedback and career conversations: In addition to celebrating them, work anniversaries are excellent occasions to ask people about their career aspirations and give them constructive feedback.
- Evaluate program success through surveys and retention data: As with every HR initiative, you want to track your efforts and evaluate whether or not they are successful. A simple survey or a stay interview can give you the information you need.
To sum up
Celebrating your employees’ work anniversaries is an excellent way to recognize them and show them you care. There are countless ways to do so, depending on, among other things, the size of your organization and available budget.
The 31 work anniversary ideas listed in this article are a great place to start for HR professionals looking for inspiration for their own work anniversary recognition programs.
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