125 Holiday Messages & Wishes for Colleagues, Employees & the Boss

You found our list of holiday messages for coworkers, employees, the boss, and clients.

Holiday messages are short notes of thanks and good wishes that people send at the end of the year, in a card, an email, a chat message, or out loud on the last day before the break. At work, the best ones are brief, warm, and specific: they name the person, thank them for something real, and wish them a good rest. This article includes 125 holiday messages, wishes and quotes you can copy or adapt, a simple formula for writing your own, and email samples for the team, clients, and the office closure.

Holiday messages are part of employee appreciation ideas and the wider season of holiday team building. They are similar to thank-you messages for work, congratulations messages for coworkers, and work anniversary wishes. They include holiday card messages, Christmas messages for the boss, and happy holidays emails. They are also called holiday wishes, holiday greetings, season’s greetings, or festive season messages.

This list includes:

1. how to wish someone happy holidays professionally
2. short holiday messages to colleagues
3. holiday wishes for coworkers
4. holiday messages for your boss
5. Christmas messages for your boss
6. holiday messages to employees
7. holiday thank-you messages for employees
8. Christmas messages for coworkers and employees
9. holiday card messages for coworkers
10. holiday messages for clients
11. season’s greetings messages
12. happy holidays and New Year wishes
13. happy holidays email samples
14. holiday announcement email to employees
15. happy holidays quotes for work

How to wish someone happy holidays professionally

A professional holiday message has three parts, and for a coworker it can fit in two sentences:

1. Greet them by name. “Happy holidays, Priya” reads as a note; “Happy holidays” alone reads as a broadcast.
2. Thank them for one specific thing. The project they rescued, the question they always answered, the way they welcomed a new hire. One real detail is worth more than three adjectives.
3. Wish them something for the break. Rest, time with the people they love, a good start to the new year. Sign it with your name.

Fill-in template: “Happy holidays, [Name]! Thank you for [specific thing] this year. I hope you get a real break and come back to [new year] rested.”

“Happy holidays” or “Merry Christmas”? “Happy holidays” and “season’s greetings” cover every celebration from late November to New Year’s Day, so they are the safe default for a whole team, for clients, and for anyone whose traditions you don’t know. When you know what someone celebrates, use it: “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah,” “Happy Kwanzaa.” Getting it right for one person can feel warmer than a neutral greeting, while guessing wrong can land worse than either. If your team celebrates together, our Hanukkah activities and Kwanzaa activities for work have ideas beyond the card.

When to send it. Send it before the person leaves for the break, so check when your recipients are actually off and how long the mail takes. As planning targets, we suggest mailing client cards in early December and sending holiday emails by mid-December, then moving those dates earlier for anyone who leaves sooner or is far away. If you miss the window, don’t apologize at length; switch to a New Year message in the first week of January (there’s a sample in the New Year section).

These are our working guidelines, not rules. A short, sincere message on December 23 still beats a polished one that never gets sent.

Short holiday messages to colleagues

Short holiday messages to colleagues work in a chat thread, on a sticky note, or in a group card where everyone gets two lines. Swap in a name or a project wherever you can.

1. Happy holidays! Thanks for making this year easier than it had any right to be.
2. Wishing you a restful break and an inbox that stays quiet until January.
3. Happy holidays, [Name]. It’s been a pleasure working alongside you this year.
4. Thanks for all your help with [task] this year. Enjoy every minute of your time off.
5. Happy holidays! See you in January, with stories from the break.
6. Warm wishes for the holidays, and thank you for being such a great teammate.
7. Wishing you and yours a happy, peaceful holiday season.
8. Enjoy the break, [Name]. You earned every day of it.
9. Happy holidays! Here’s to more wins like [project] next year.
10. Thank you for always having my back this year. Happy holidays!
11. Season’s greetings, and thank you for a year of great work together.
12. Wishing you good food, good company, and a long rest. Happy holidays!
13. Working with you made this year better. Happy holidays!
14. Have a wonderful holiday, and please don’t check your email.
15. Happy holidays to my favorite person to share a deadline with. See you in January.

Holiday wishes for coworkers you’re close to

Holiday wishes for coworkers you work with every day can be warmer and more personal. These leave room for the detail that makes them yours.

16. I couldn’t have gotten through [project] without you. Thank you, and happy holidays!
17. Thanks for every coffee run, every proofread, and every “you’ve got this.” Have a wonderful holiday season.
18. You made the hard weeks this year feel lighter. I hope your holidays are full of the same kindness you show everyone here.
19. Happy holidays, [Name]! I learned more from sitting next to you this year than from any training. Thank you.
20. Wishing you a holiday season as generous as you’ve been with your time this year.
21. To the person who always knows where the file is and how to fix the printer: thank you, and happy holidays!
22. Happy holidays! I’m grateful we ended up on the same team this year, and I’m looking forward to the next one.
23. From a new hire: Thank you for making me feel so welcome this year. Happy holidays, and see you in January!
24. For a remote coworker: We’ve only met on video calls, but you’ve been one of my favorite people to work with this year. Happy holidays!
25. Happy holidays to the best desk neighbor in the building. Enjoy the break!

Funny holiday messages for coworkers

Save these for coworkers who share your sense of humor, and keep the joke about work, not about the person.

26. Happy holidays! May your inbox be empty and your cookie plate be full.
27. Wishing you a holiday season with zero “quick questions.”
28. Happy holidays! I’ll miss you for exactly as long as your out-of-office reply is on.
29. Here’s to a break long enough to forget your password.
30. Happy holidays to my partner in surviving [year-end close]. We made it.
31. May your holiday travel go more smoothly than our last software rollout.

Holiday messages for your boss

A holiday message for your boss should be warm but not gushing. Thank them for something they actually did, such as advice, flexibility, or trust, and keep it to one to three sentences. If you’re giving a gift too, our list of gifts for bosses has ideas that won’t feel like flattery.

32. Happy holidays! Thank you for your guidance and support this year.
33. Thank you for being a manager who listens. Wishing you a restful holiday season.
34. Happy holidays, [Name]. Your advice on [skill] changed how I work, and I’m grateful for it.
35. Thank you for trusting me with [project] this year. I hope you have a wonderful break with your family.
36. Wishing you a relaxing holiday season. Thanks for making this team a good place to work.
37. Happy holidays! Thank you for having the team’s back when it mattered, especially during [moment].
38. Thanks for a great year, [Name]. Enjoy some well-earned time off, and I promise not to email you.
39. Happy holidays! Thank you for the honest feedback this year; it made my work better.
40. Thank you for making time for my questions, even in the busiest weeks. Happy holidays, and a great start to the new year.
41. Thank you for leading us through a busy year with patience and good humor. Happy holidays!
42. Learning from you has been the gift that keeps on giving this year. Happy holidays!

Christmas messages for your boss

If you know your boss celebrates Christmas, a Christmas message for your boss is a little more personal than “happy holidays.” The last one is a full card message you can copy.

43. Merry Christmas, [Name]! Thank you for a year of support and good advice.
44. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a peaceful break. Thank you for everything you do for this team.
45. Merry Christmas! Thank you for believing in me this year. It meant more than you know.
46. Merry Christmas and happy New Year! I’m looking forward to everything we’ll take on in [year].
47. Wishing you and your family a merry Christmas full of good food and no deadlines.
48. Merry Christmas, boss! Thanks for making Mondays a little easier this year.
49. Merry Christmas! Thank you for the flexibility this year when I needed it most.
50. Christmas card for your boss: Dear [Name], merry Christmas, and thank you for a wonderful year. Working with you has made me better at what I do. Warm wishes, [Your name].

Holiday messages to employees

Holiday messages to employees come from managers, the CEO, or HR, so they speak for the company as well as for the person signing them. Name what the team achieved, thank people for it, and tell them to actually rest.

51. Thank you for everything you gave this year. Please take a real break; you’ve earned it. Happy holidays!
52. Happy holidays, team! This year we [milestone], and it happened because of each of you.
53. As the year wraps up, I want to say thank you. Your hard work, patience, and good humor made [year] a year to be proud of. Enjoy the holidays with the people you love.
54. Happy holidays, team. This was the year we [hardest thing the team did], and you made it look easier than it was. Thank you.
55. Thank you for showing up for our customers and for each other all year. Wishing you a happy, restful holiday season.
56. From HR: On behalf of the People team, thank you for a great year. Wishing you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.
57. In Slack or Teams: Happy holidays, everyone! Thank you for a great year. Log off, rest, and we’ll see you on [date].
58. To our new hires: thank you for jumping in so quickly. To everyone who’s been here a while: thank you for making them feel welcome. Happy holidays, all.
59. This year wasn’t always easy, and you kept going anyway. Thank you. I hope the next few weeks bring you rest and good company.
60. Happy holidays! The best part of my job this year was watching this team [specific thing]. Thank you.

Thanks from a leader can matter. In a 2010 field experiment, Adam Grant and Francesca Gino found that university fundraisers who received an in-person thank-you from their director made about 50% more voluntary calls the following week (from 41.4 to 62.6 on average), while a control group stayed flat; the researchers traced the effect to feeling socially valued. It was one small study of a spoken thank-you, not a holiday card, so treat it as a reason to say thanks rather than a forecast.

Holiday thank-you messages for employees

A team email is not a substitute for a line to each person. These holiday thank-you messages for employees work as a personal note, a card, or a direct message. For the rest of the year, our job well done messages cover the same ground.

61. [Name], thank you for [specific contribution]. It made a real difference to [result]. Happy holidays!
62. Thank you for stepping up when [situation]. I noticed, and so did the team. Enjoy the holidays.
63. Thank you for your patience while we [change]. I know it wasn’t easy. Wishing you a wonderful holiday.
64. Your work on [project] was one of the highlights of my year. Thank you, and happy holidays.
65. For people working over the break: Thank you for covering [shift or desk] on [dates] so the rest of us can be away. I know what you’re giving up to do it, and I’m grateful.

Christmas messages for coworkers and employees

Use these Christmas messages for coworkers and employees when you know the people you’re writing to celebrate Christmas, or for an office that marks it together. At the party itself, our Christmas icebreakers keep the conversation going.

66. Merry Christmas! Thanks for a year of teamwork, laughs, and great coffee.
67. Merry Christmas to you and your family. It’s been a joy working with you this year.
68. Merry Christmas! I hope the break leaves time for [tradition or hobby they mentioned].
69. From a manager: Merry Christmas, team! Thank you for everything you’ve done this year. Enjoy the break.
70. Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brings you everything on your list, including a quiet inbox.
71. Merry Christmas and happy New Year to the hardest-working team I know.
72. Merry Christmas to my work family. Thank you for making this office feel like a second home.
73. Merry Christmas! Thanks for being the person I could always ask the “silly” questions.

Holiday card messages for coworkers

What to write in a holiday card for coworkers depends on the card. In a group card that goes around the office, write one or two lines and sign your name, and leave space for everyone after you. In a card of your own, add one memory from the year; it’s the line that makes the card yours.

74. Happy holidays! Thank you for being the calm in every storm this year.
75. Dear [Name], thank you for a year of help, laughs, and good ideas. Wishing you a joyful holiday season. [Your name]
76. Happy holidays! [A memory from the year] still makes me laugh. Here’s to more of that next year.
77. Wishing you warmth, rest, and a few lazy mornings this holiday season.
78. Thank you for being such a kind and generous colleague. Happy holidays!
79. Season’s greetings! Working with you is one of the best parts of my job.
80. Group card: Happy holidays from your [team] crew. We’re lucky to have you.
81. Peace, rest, and good cheer to you this holiday season. Thanks for keeping [meeting or team chat] fun this year.

Short messages for a holiday gift tag

A gift tag has room for one line. If the gift comes from a Secret Santa, keep the giver’s name off it until the reveal.

82. A small thank-you for a big year. Happy holidays!
83. For all the coffee you’ve made for everyone else: this one’s yours. Happy holidays!
84. Happy holidays! Enjoy the break, and this little treat.
85. From your Secret Santa: happy holidays, and thanks for being great to work with.
86. Something to unwrap after a year of unwrapping everyone else’s problems. Happy holidays!

Holiday messages for clients and company holiday cards

Holiday messages for clients keep a relationship warm without asking for anything. Thank them for the work you did together, sign it personally, and leave the sales pitch for January. If you’re sending something with the card, our client gift ideas list has options at every budget. The last two messages also work as company holiday card messages, signed from everyone.

87. Thank you for your trust and partnership this year. Wishing you a happy holiday season and a successful [year].
88. Happy holidays from all of us at [Company], and thank you for making our work this year so enjoyable.
89. Thank you for choosing [Company] this year. We’re grateful for your business and wish you a joyful holiday season.
90. Season’s greetings from the [Company] team. We’re looking forward to [shared plan] in the new year.
91. Thank you for a great year of working together on [project]. Wishing you and your team a restful holiday break.
92. From our team to yours: happy holidays, and here’s to another year of working together.
93. Thank you for the referrals this year; they mean a lot to a team our size. Warm wishes for the holidays.
94. Happy holidays! Our office is closed from [date] to [date]; for anything urgent, [contact] is on call. Thank you for a wonderful year.
95. Company holiday card: Wishing you peace, joy, and good health in the new year. With thanks, everyone at [Company].
96. Company Christmas card: Merry Christmas and happy New Year from all of us at [Company]. Thank you for being part of our year.

Season’s greetings messages

Season’s greetings messages are the most formal and the most inclusive option: they work for a client list, a supplier, or a company-wide card where you don’t know everyone’s traditions. “Compliments of the season” is a more formal way to say the same thing.

97. Season’s greetings and best wishes for the new year.
98. Warm season’s greetings from all of us at [Company].
99. Compliments of the season, and thank you for a wonderful year.
100. Wishing you peace, health, and happiness this festive season.
101. Season’s greetings! May the new year bring you good health and new successes.
102. Best wishes for a joyful festive season and a prosperous new year.
103. Season’s greetings to you and your team, with our thanks for your partnership.
104. Wishing you the warmth of the season and every success in the year ahead.

Happy holidays and New Year wishes for colleagues

Happy holidays and New Year wishes bridge the break, and an end-of-year message to colleagues is a good fit for the last team meeting or the final chat thread of the year. The last one is for a note that missed the holidays. For the first meeting back, try our New Year’s icebreaker questions.

105. Happy holidays and happy New Year! Thank you for [specific thing]; I’d love to do more of that with you in [year].
106. New year, same great team. Happy holidays, and see you in [year]!
107. Here’s to a strong end to this year and an even better start to the next. Happy holidays!
108. As this year ends, thank you for being a big part of what went right. Happy holidays and happy New Year.
109. Wishing you a quiet December and a happy start to the new year.
110. Happy holidays! Whatever [year] brings, I’m glad we’re taking it on together.
111. End of year message to colleagues: That’s a wrap on [year]. Thanks for the teamwork, the patience, and the laughs. See you on the other side.
112. Happy New Year! I’m grateful to be starting another year on this team.
113. Sent in January: Happy New Year! I didn’t get a holiday note out in time, but I didn’t want the year to start without saying thank you for [specific thing].

Happy holidays email samples

A happy holidays email needs a clear subject line, a short body, and any practical details (closure dates, who to contact) kept separate from the wishes so nobody has to hunt for them. Our guide on how to write work emails covers subject lines and tone in more depth.

Happy holidays email to your team

Subject: Thank you, and happy holidays

Hi team,

Before we all log off for the holidays, I want to say thank you. This year we [achievement], and we did it while [challenge]. That took real effort from every one of you.

Please take the break seriously: close the laptop, mute the notifications, and spend the time on whatever restores you. We’ll pick things back up on [date].

Happy holidays, and thank you for a great year.

[Your name]

Holiday announcement email to employees

A holiday announcement email to employees about the party has to answer the questions people will otherwise ask you one by one: when, where, what kind of event, what to wear, and whether it’s on work time. Office holiday parties range from a long lunch to a hosted game on a video call (The New York Times covered the topic in its December 2023 piece “Did the Grinch Come for the Office Holiday Party?”, which featured teambuilding.com), so say exactly what this one is. If you’re still choosing the format, see our office Christmas party ideas and virtual holiday party ideas.

Subject: You’re invited: team holiday party on [day, date]

Hi everyone,

To thank you for a great year, we’re holding our holiday party on [day, date], from [time] to [time] [time zone], at [location or video link].

• What it is: [a hosted game / dinner / workshop], followed by [awards, toasts, open time].
• Dress code: [business casual / festive sweaters welcome / whatever you’re comfortable in].
• Food and drinks: [provided / reimbursed up to $X; submit receipts to [person] by [date]]. Non-alcoholic options will be available.
• Work time: The party is during work hours, so please block your calendar.
• RSVP: by [date] at [link], and let [person] know about any dietary or accessibility needs.

Thank you for everything you’ve done this year. We can’t wait to celebrate with you.

[Your name]

The party doesn’t have to be in December. Our own team holds its holiday party in February, because our team’s December schedule is packed and January is for recovering; if yours falls in the new year, call it a New Year party and send the invitation before the break so it’s on calendars early.

Holiday office closure email

Subject: Office closed [date] to [date]

Hi all,

Our offices will be closed from [date] through [date] and will reopen on [date]. [Team or person] will cover urgent [customer or IT] issues at [contact] during the closure.

Please set an out-of-office reply before you leave and move any deadlines that fall during the break. Thank you for a wonderful year, and happy holidays.

[Your name]

Holiday out-of-office message

Two versions, plain and friendly. Our list of out-of-office messages has more, including funny ones.

Thank you for your email. I’m out of the office for the holidays from [date] and will be back on [date], with limited access to email. For anything urgent, please contact [Name] at [email]. Happy holidays!

Happy holidays! I’m away until [date], enjoying some time off. Your email is safe with me, and I’ll reply when I’m back. If it can’t wait, [Name] at [email] can help.

Happy holidays email to clients

Subject: Happy holidays from [Company]

Hi [Name],

As the year comes to a close, I wanted to say thank you. Working with you on [project] was one of the highlights of our year, and we’re grateful for your trust.

Our office is closed from [date] to [date]. If anything urgent comes up, [contact] will be available.

Wishing you and your team a restful holiday season and a great start to [year].

Warm regards,
[Your name]

Happy holidays quotes for work

A short quote can open a holiday card or close a year-end email. Each of these is quoted from its original source, with the source named so you can credit it. Most of the classic lines are about Christmas, so save those for people who celebrate it; the sayings after them work for anyone.

Classic holiday and year-end quotes

114. “Christmas is not a time or a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” (Calvin Coolidge, Christmas message, 1927)
115. “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” (Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, 1843)
116. “a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time” (Scrooge’s nephew Fred describing Christmas in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, 1843)
117. “It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling—the season for kindling not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.” (Washington Irving, “Christmas,” The Sketch Book, 1819–20)
118. “Ring out the old, ring in the new, / Ring, happy bells, across the snow: / The year is going, let him go; / Ring out the false, ring in the true.” (Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H., 1850)
119. “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Works and Days,” Society and Solitude, 1870)

Short holiday sayings for work

These are our own lines, short enough for a gift tag or a chat sign-off. For the rest of the year, our work quotes of the day list has motivational quotes with sources.

120. Rest is part of the work. Enjoy the break.
121. The best thing about this year was the people we did it with.
122. Good teams make good years.
123. Unplug, unwind, and enjoy every quiet minute.
124. Cheers to everyone who made this year work.
125. Less email, more time with your people.

What we’ve learned about holiday messages at work

Holiday parties and year-end celebrations are a big part of December at teambuilding.com, which has run more than 45,000 team building events since 2013 (as of August 2026), and the invitations, closure notices and thank-you notes around them come with the job. These are our recommendations, not research findings:

• One specific detail beats any amount of eloquence. “Thank you for staying late to fix the launch page” shows you noticed; “thank you for all your hard work” could be sent to anyone.
• Write a base line, then personalize the middle. If you’re writing 20 cards, start each with the same greeting and end with the same wish, and spend your effort on the one sentence in between that only fits that person.
• Managers: the team email doesn’t replace a line to each person. Send the group message, then a two-sentence note to every direct report. The group email thanks the team; the personal note shows you saw what each person did.
• Remember the people working through the break. Support, operations, facilities, and on-call engineers often get the generic message and none of the time off. Thank them by name.
• Mail cards to remote teammates a week early. They can’t pick one up at the office, and a card that arrives in January is a New Year card.
• Include contractors, interns, and people on leave. They are easy to leave off a mailing list or a card’s signing round, so check the list before you send.

Recognition is the point of the exercise. Gallup and Workhuman’s workplace recognition research (2023–2024) finds that employees who receive great recognition are 20 times as likely to be engaged as those who receive poor recognition, and that well-recognized employees are 45% less likely to have turned over two years later. One holiday card won’t make recognition great, but it is a once-a-year chance to show people you noticed.

Holiday messages to avoid

We call this our Lame List: messages that are sent with good intentions and still land badly.

• “Happy holidays!” and nothing else, from a leader. Two words from the CEO read like a form letter. Add one sentence about what the team did.
• Guessing at someone’s religion. If you don’t know what a person celebrates, “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings” is the respectful choice.
• Hinting at bonuses, raises, or changes. “Big things coming in the new year!” starts rumors that run all break. Announce news when you can explain it.
• Putting work in the wish. “Rest up, because Q1 is going to be huge” turns a thank-you into a warning. Let the break be a break.
• Mail-merge mistakes. “Dear {First_Name}” undoes the whole message. Send a test to yourself first.
• Reply-all to the company-wide message. If you want to thank the sender, reply to them alone.
• Jokes about weight, diets, or drinking. “Don’t eat too much!” is not as harmless as it sounds to someone who is dieting, in recovery, or tired of the comments.
• A discount code in a client holiday card. It turns a thank-you into an ad. Save the offer for January.
• A group card with only signatures. If everyone writes one line, the card is worth keeping; a page of names is not.

Final thoughts

Holiday messages take a minute to write, and they are a once-a-year chance to put your thanks in writing. Greet the person by name, thank them for one specific thing, and wish them a real break. Pick any of the messages above, swap in your details, and send it before the office empties out. And if your message is an invitation, you can browse hosted virtual and in-person team events for the party itself.

For more help with the season, read our guides to holiday party etiquette, employee appreciation quotes, and employee happy birthday messages for the rest of the year.