BYOB to your company holiday bash...if there is one

It truly will be just champagne wishes and caviar dreams for most employees at their holiday parties. Big corporations like Viacom, Hearst and ABC News, which used to book Hiltons and serve booze galore, have either canceled or scaled back party plans.

Now small businesses are following suit in scaling back on festivities, says the Associated Press. It's not primarily due to limited cash flow; some feel it's just not appropriate to party when pink slips are fast and furious.

According to a survey done by Battalia Winston Amrop, an executive search firm in New York, only 81% of businesses will have some type of holiday party this year, the lowest level in 20 years. Also, 37% say their party has been cancelled or scaled back, double the 19% of companies affected last year.