11 Affordable Employee Gift Ideas When You’re on a Budget

According to a January 2018 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average employee only stays with their current employer for 4.2 years. While employment is brief, that doesn’t mean they are no longer associated with your brand. In fact, thanks to social media being as prevalent as it is, employees have become brand ambassadors for life. This can be very good since after their employment ends, former employees will continue to talk about your brand and hopefully promote it with positivity, giving you a good brand image. However, employees who feel they were mistreated or under-appreciated will be sure to tell everyone about that as well, damaging your brand image. Therefore, it’s important to keep your employees happy and show appreciation while they’re employed with you!

You may not be running a Fortune 500 company that can give large bonuses, expensive vacations, and luxury products to reward your employees for their hard work. More likely, you may be a small business that is crunching the numbers and doesn’t have much to spend on employee gifts. Fear not! Just because you’re on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t come up with some great affordable gift ideas for your employees. Here’s a shortlist to help get you started:

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #1: Reusable Water Bottles

Reusable water bottles are great gifts for the environmentally-conscious employees on your team looking to reduce their environmental impact and cut back on the use of plastic water bottles.

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #2: Desktop Bonsai Kits

For those looking for a little zen in their life, a bonsai kit can be a great gift for those employees with a green thumb who like a little bit of nature on their desks.

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #3: Branded Bluetooth Speakers

“Hold on a second! I thought you said these were affordable!?” Surprisingly yes, you can find affordable Bluetooth speakers for less than $10. These are great gifts for music lovers on your team as well as those who enjoy hosting social events.

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #4: Wireless Earbuds

Speaking of music lovers, some wireless earbuds would be another great gift idea. It’ll come in handy when your employee misplaces their headphones or they break by mistake (it’s happened to me too many times).

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #5: Coffee Tumbler

There are over 150 million Americans that drink coffee according to a recent study — there is bound to be a coffee fanatic on your team! A brand new coffee tumbler makes an excellent gift, as it can be used to replace that old one they bought at a gas station out of desperation. This way they’re coffee can stay warm all day and in (branded) style.

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #6: Barista Pack

Another great idea for the coffee lover is a barista pack. This basic pack includes some mugs, coasters, and spoons to mix their creamer or sugar (or both!)

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #7: Tote Bag

Ever see an employee of yours struggling to carry everything in the office? Maybe they bring food for others and never have enough hands to bring it all in one trip. If so, consider grabbing them a custom branded tote bag to help minimize their trips to the car.

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #8: Umbrella

Sometimes it’s good to look on the practical side. You’d be surprised by the number of people I’ve seen forget their umbrellas when it’s pouring — or don’t even own one! Maybe it’s time to help out those employees with an extra umbrella to keep them dry.

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #9: Lunchbox Cooler

Not the flashiest gift, but certainly the most practical. Who couldn’t benefit from a nice lunchbox to store their food in?

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #10 Multi Tools

For the more “handy” employees on your team. A multi-tool that includes a knife blade, bottle opener, scissors, screwdriver, and wrench would be the perfect gift for someone who enjoys working with their hands.

Affordable Employee Gift Idea #11 Warm Blankets

Winter is coming… so why not gift your employees some blankets to stay warm! A nice, and practical gift that’ll be very appreciated during the dead of winter.

Coming up with affordable gift ideas for employees can be difficult, especially when you’re on a tight budget. We hope these ideas help or even spark another creative gift that shows your appreciation. If you’d like to order any of these items, contact one of our brand ambassadors to help you out. We can even set up a kit for you to reorder when you run out!