60+ employee newsletter ideas for January 2026

You may be wondering how to get your employees to bounce back from the holidays and re-engage with your content and goals at the top of the year. Never fear; we’ve put together 45+ fun and creative employee newsletter ideas for January to ease your employees back into the rhythm of things and set them (and you) up for success!

January 2026 holidays and observances

A popular form of content in a company newsletter is celebrating important awareness holidays and observances… and January is stacked with them. Scroll through to find celebrations that are relevant to your work or just light-hearted and engaging ways to spruce up your newsletter. 

Note: Some of these days hold special cultural and/or religious significance or are observances of sensitive topics, so if you choose to refer to them in your employee newsletters, remember to be thoughtful, intentional, and considerate. Holidays + observances are listed in alphabetical order.

There’s an easy way to keep track of it all… Download our free Internal Communications Editorial Calendar for 2026 below!

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2026 Internal Communications Editorial Calendar

Holidays, key dates, and all the things you’ll want to communicate in one easy-to-use, comms-focused editorial calendar! Get your free copy below.

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Daily holidays and observances in January 2026

January 1: New Year’s Day
January 2: National Buffet Day (Team lunch idea, anyone?), World Introvert Day
January 3: International Mind-Body Wellness Day
January 4: National Spaghetti Day, National Trivia Day, World Braille Day
January 5: National Bird Day (this is a great opportunity to say, “Happy Bird-day” to someone as a conversation starter 🤪)
January 6: Epiphany, National Cuddle Up Day
January 7: National Bobblehead Day, Orthodox Christmas
January 8: National Bubble Bath Day, World Typing Day (Hold a typing speed test with your team to see who is the fastest typist! We did this with our team and used this test.)
January 9: Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
January 10: National Houseplant Appreciation Day (Organize a team plant swap)
January 11: National Human Trafficking Awareness Day
January 12: National Pharmacist Day, National Gluten Free Day
January 13: Korean American Day, National Clean Off Your Desk Day
January 14: National Dress Up Your Pet Day (Organize a pet photo contest 🐾)
January 15: National Hat Day, National Bagel Day
January 16: National Nothing Day
January 17: International Mentoring Day
January 18: National Thesaurus Day
January 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, National Popcorn Day, World Religion Day
January 20: National Penguin Day
January 21: National Hugging Day
January 22: National Blonde Brownie Day
January 23: National Pie Day
January 24: International Day of Education, National Compliment Day
January 25: Burns Night (Robert Burns Day), National Irish Coffee Day, Opposite Day
January 26: National Spouses Day, International Customs DayJanuary 27: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 28: National Lego Day
January 29: National Puzzle Day (Include puzzles in your employee newsletter!)
January 30: National Croissant Day
January 31: National Backward Day

Weekly holidays and observances in January

National Thank Your Customers Week (January 4-10)
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (January 7-14)
Home Office Safety and Security Week (January 12-18)
National Storytelling Week (January 30-February 6)

Monthly holidays and observances in January

Cervical Health Awareness Month
National Blood Donor Month (Organize a blood drive with your team)
National Braille Literacy Month
National Hobby Month
National Mentoring Month (Start a mentoring program)
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
Poverty Awareness Month (Research local events and organize volunteer work for your team. This can include fundraising walks, volunteering your time, or organizing a food drive. And if you need help segmenting your employee newsletters by specific locations, we can help with that!)
Veganuary

Seasonal topics and other ideas for January employee newsletters

New Year’s Resolutions employee newsletter ideas

January is a time for setting resolutions and goals. Encourage your employees to share their New Year’s resolutions (personal and professional) with their team. Include a quick survey for employees to submit their top resolution for the year and let them know you are there to help them keep their goals! (Surveys can be embedded into emails with an employee communications tool like Workshop.) 

Some of the most common resolutions (and ideas to encourage action) are:

• Eating healthy + active living: Create a wellness calendar for your team and communicate important health and wellness dates, programs, and initiatives.
• Learning a new skill or hobby: Host a monthly show-and-tell with your team to explore new hobbies! Do you have an employee that’s really into cooking? Take the team to a cooking class together to try out a new hobby. Plus, it’ll give your team something to taco ‘bout. (Sorry not sorry for that pun!) 😊
• Saving money: Invite your team to participate in a savings challenge — like the popular 52-Week Savings Challenge!
• Travel more: Encourage employees to take time off by sending vacation reminder emails. Additionally, highlight recent employee vacations! Did one of your team members recently travel abroad or check out a new city? Ask if they would be willing to share a few of their favorite photos in the employee newsletter! It’s always a great idea to include employee content. Plus, it will encourage other employees to take some time off!

Here are a few additional ideas to spruce up your January newsletter:

Monthly book club: National Storytelling Week begins January 30 and runs through February 6. Include a monthly book recommendation in your employee newsletter to engage your team and foster conversations! Here’s a guide on how to run a company book club by Self-Publishing School.

Motivational note from the CEO: Having a section in your employee newsletter that expresses appreciation to your employees goes a long way! Starting off the new year with a message of gratitude can help motivate employees and establish a healthy company culture. (You could even make it a weekly update from the CEO! Here’s a template to help you get started.)

Team happy hour: Build strong team bonds early in the year by hosting a team happy hour (virtual or in-person)! Happy hours are a great way for your team to connect and get to know each other. Plus, they increase trust and communication. 

Training, tools, and resources: January is a great month to send (or resend) training and learning resources to your employees. Bonus tip: Use multiple reminders to help boost engagement. Meet your employees where they are and send updates to multiple channels (like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint, and more) from a single platform like Workshop.

Next steps:

Download our Internal Comms Editorial Calendar: This sample internal comms editorial calendar will help you organize your content and messaging so you can communicate with your employees and drive engagement. It’s simple, streamlined, and totally customizable for your company’s needs.