This November 2026, our trending swag list is focused on employee swag kits. Below, you’ll find 25 swag ideas that work well for onboarding: from backpacks and hoodies to tech and packaging. And, if you’re planning on putting together swag kits for your employees, we also have five kit ideas using those same items, so you can have a pre-assembled kit you can easily copy. Let’s begin.
Why should you send new hire swag kits?
You should send new hire swag kits because they help make onboarding feel more welcoming, give remote hires something tangible from your company, and stay useful long after the first week.
New hire swag kits help with first impressions: Your new hire is still figuring out what your company is like during their first few weeks, so the onboarding experience is very important. In fact, Software Finder surveyed 1,011 US employees hired in the last two years. Of those, 32% said they planned to quit within six months, and that jumped to 48% for people who had a poor onboarding experience. BambooHR’s onboarding research also found that employees with effective onboarding reported up to 18 times more commitment to their workplace. With those in mind, a welcome kit helps make your employee’s first experience with your company feel planned.
Swag kits give remote hires something physical from your company: For someone starting remotely, a swag kit may be one of the first things from your company they can actually hold. It can arrive before they’ve met most of their coworkers through Slack or even joined their first team meeting, which makes it a simple way to make the welcome tangible.
Useful swag keeps getting used after onboarding: A good new hire kit contains swag items that your team will actually use. ASI’s 2026 Ad Impressions Study found that 78% of people keep promotional items because they’re useful, while 85% remember who gave them.
What should go in a new hire kit?
A good employee onboarding kit should have one main item your new hire will use regularly, a few smaller extras, and packaging that makes the whole thing feel like it came from your company.
Here’s what we usually recommend when clients are building their first kit:
Start with one hero item: A backpack or hoodie gives your kit a main item. From there, you can add smaller swag around it. Just make sure they’re all useful and high-quality. Remember, your swag kit is your employee’s physical connection with your company.
Choose swag that doesn’t need sizing: Hats, beanies, and socks don’t require size, so it’s easy to pick one for everyone. If you do want to include a hoodie or tee, you can opt for On Demand swag to ensure accuracy with the sizing.
Add something for your employee’s desk: Include a swag item your employee can use at work, which is especially useful for remote hires setting up a workspace on their first day. A desk mat, charging stand, or water bottle can be put into use straight away!
Include a real welcome note: A card from your new hire’s manager or team costs very little, but it’s one of the few things in the box that feels personal. If you need ideas, you can use our welcome messages for new employees as a starting point.
Think about what your new hire sees first: Before your new employees get to the hoodie or backpack, they see the box. That’s why it’s important to make the box part of the whole kit you’re planning for. In this case, you can use a printed mailer, insert card, or sticker sheet to make the unboxing feel more intentional.
What are trending swag ideas for new hire kits in 2026?
Apparel and accessories
AS Colour Men’s Stencil Hoodie ($36.45)
If you want a heavier hoodie in the kit, this one uses anti-pill fleece and comes with a lined hood and a kangaroo pocket. AS Colour also preshrinks it, so your new hire is less likely to lose the shape after a few washes. For employees in India, you can use the Caslay Recycled Hoodie from our India catalog as the closest local alternative.
AS Colour Men’s Staple Tee ($13.00)
If you want to include a tee, this is one of the easier options to use across teams. Your new hire gets 5.3 oz combed cotton, side seams, and double-needle hems, while you get enough color options to match most brand palettes. For employees in India, you can use the Caslay Organic Crew Neck T-Shirt instead.
Flagship Crew Socks ($9.49)
If you want apparel without collecting sizes, socks are one of the easiest things to add. Your new hire gets a cotton-blend pair made in the US with some stretch, and you can add a personalized header card if you want the packaging to match the rest of the kit.
Richardson Peach Twill Dad Hat ($13.39)
You get an unstructured six-panel cap in 100% cotton peach twill, plus a pre-curved bill and buckle closure. Since the wearer can adjust the fit, you don’t need to collect hat sizes beforehand.
AS Colour Cuff Beanie ($11.70)
If your November hire is starting in London or Amsterdam, they can probably wear this as soon as it arrives. AS Colour uses a mid-weight acrylic knit with a longer body and cuffed hem. You can also remove the original label, so your company logo can be the only branding they see.
Drinkware
If you want to add a brand your new hire will probably recognize immediately, YETI is an easy option. Your employee gets a 20 oz travel mug that fits most cup holders, along with a leak-resistant Stronghold lid they can rotate for left- or right-handed drinking.
If your team already likes Stanley, you can go with the ProTour. Your new hire gets the familiar 40 oz Quencher shape, but this version uses a flip straw that snaps shut so they can carry it in a bag with less risk of leaking. Stanley says the recycled stainless steel can keep drinks cold for up to 11 hours. Forty ounces is a lot, though. If your team usually prefers something smaller, you can choose the 30-oz version instead.
If you want a lower-cost bottle with a few useful features, Sorbo gives your new hire two ways to drink. They can use the built-in straw or tilt the bottle normally. They can also lock the lid to help prevent spills, and the bottle keeps drinks cold for up to 24 hours. You can now order Sorbo as On Demand swag, too, which helps when one employee starts between larger onboarding batches.
TYESO Travel Coffee Tumbler | 20 oz ($15.99)
If you need a lower-cost drinkware option for several countries, TYESO is one you can choose. Your new hire gets food-grade stainless steel and a fully removable lid that makes cleaning easier.
Bags
If you only want to spend more on one thing in the kit, put the budget toward a good backpack. Your new hire gets water-repellent polyester, waterproof zippers, a toiletries pocket, an elastic pad that cushions their laptop, and a chest buckle for longer carries.
Bellroy Classic Backpack | 16L ($113.99)
If you’re building a kit for a senior hire or someone in leadership, you can move up to the Bellroy Classic. Bellroy makes this version as part of its EcoSmart line using material sourced from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Your new hire also gets a padded sleeve for laptops up to 16 inches and a water-resistant top pocket for things like a phone or keys.
Tech
Rupt Trakard Smart Tracker Card ($29.98)
If your team uses a mix of iPhones and Android phones, this tracker gives you more flexibility than something built for one ecosystem. Your new hire can slide it into a wallet or attach it to luggage using the included ring. They can track it with either Apple Find My or Google Find Hub, too.
Rupt Slimzak Mini 5000mAh Powerbank ($34.98)
If your new hire travels often, they can keep this small magnetic power bank in a jacket pocket or work bag. They can snap it onto the back of a compatible phone and get a full charge without carrying a larger battery around.
Rupt Frequenz ANC Headphones ($64.98)
If you’re building a remote or hybrid kit, headphones can make sense because your new hire can use them for meetings immediately. With the Frequenz, they get hybrid noise cancellation, up to 25 hours of battery life, Bluetooth 5.4, and a carry bag.
Rupt Foldix Wireless Charging Stand ($19.58)
For a remote hire, you can give them something they’ll probably put on their desk on day one. They can fold the Foldix flat when they travel, then open it back up and charge a compatible phone in either orientation using the 15W Qi-certified coil.
Rupt Dipster IPX7 Waterproof Speaker ($45.00)
If you want something that feels less work-focused, you can add a small speaker. Your new hire gets a 5W speaker with IPX7 waterproofing, up to 10 hours of playtime, and a built-in clip. Rupt also makes it from 100% recycled ABS plastic.
Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K) ($81.99)
If you want a larger battery from a brand people already know, you can move up to Anker. Your new hire gets 10,000mAh of capacity and can charge through a compatible magnetic phone case instead of removing it every time.
If you’re building a more premium kit, you can use the Space One as the main tech item. Your new hire gets adaptive noise cancellation that blocks up to 98% of noise, up to 60 hours of battery life or 40 with ANC on, and six microphones for calls.
We’ve been seeing JBL speakers sell especially well lately. If you add the Clip 5, your new hire gets a speaker that’s only about 5.5 inches long but still easy to carry around. They can clip it directly onto a backpack or bag strap, too!
Apple AirTag Gen2 (1 Pack) ($46.00)
If most of your team uses Apple devices, you can add the newer AirTag. Your new hire can attach it to their keys, backpack, or luggage and track it through the Find My app. Apple also gave this generation a louder speaker and a longer Precision Finding range.
Desk and packaging
Custom Desk Mat ($20.98)
If you’re onboarding someone remotely, a desk mat can change the look of their setup as soon as they unpack it. You can print the full surface in color, and your employee gets an anti-slip rubber base with stitched edges.
Kaco Pure Gel Pen ($1.44)
If you need a small add-on that works in almost any regional kit, you can use the Kaco Pure. Your new hire gets a refillable 0.5mm gel pen with a soft-touch matte barrel that matches the ink color.
Custom Sticker ($0.11)
Stickers are in a lot of the kits because they cost very little, don’t add much shipping weight, and often end up on employees’ laptops. You can choose die-cut or kiss-cut weatherproof matte vinyl, or use holographic stickers and sticker sheets if you want something more noticeable.
Custom Insert Card ($0.21)
When your new hire opens the box, you can put the welcome message right on top. You can print a note from the CEO, manager, or team in sizes ranging from a 4 x 6 postcard to a 6 x 9 sheet.
Custom Mailer Box ($3.41)
If you want the kit to feel finished before your employee even opens it, you can brand the mailer, too. Kits are usually packed in a 12 x 10 x 4-inch white corrugated box, which is the smallest standard size that fits a water bottle. If you’re adding a hoodie, the 14 x 12 x 5-inch box gives you more room. You can print the outside only or add printing inside the box as well. You also don’t need tape to close it.
Sample New Hire Kit Ideas
Good new hire kit ideas for 2026 include a kit for global teams, for remote teams, for senior roles, for sales reps, and for colder regions. You should choose the one that best fits what type of employee you’re hiring, where they live, and how they work.
All of these new hire kit ideas are based on the swag ideas that we listed above. All of them, too, would need the custom mailer box as swag kits always come in a box to serve a more memorable unboxing experience for new hires.
For global teams
If you’re hiring in several countries at once, you can use this kit because every item gives you more than one regional sourcing option.
AS Colour Men’s Staple Tee
TYESO Travel Coffee Tumbler | 20 oz
Kaco Pure Gel Pen
Custom Stickers
Custom Insert Card
Custom Mailer Box
Pack everything into a printed mailer box. For employees in India, swap the AS Colour tee for the Caslay option so you can source the apparel locally.
For remote employees
If you’re onboarding someone remotely, you can give them a few things they’ll use while setting up their workspace.
Custom Desk Mat
Rupt Foldix Wireless Charging Stand
Sorbo Sip Stainless Steel Water Bottle | 24 oz
Rupt Dipster IPX7 Waterproof Speaker
Custom Stickers
Custom Mailer Box
You can send the kit alongside the remote onboarding tools they’ll be logging into on their first morning.
For senior roles
If you’re welcoming a senior hire or someone in leadership, you can build the box around brands they’ll probably recognize.
Bellroy Classic Backpack | 16L
Anker Soundcore Space One Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones
Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K)
Stanley Quencher ProTour Tumbler 40oz
Custom Insert Card
Custom Mailer Box
For sales reps
If you’re hiring a sales rep or someone who spends a lot of time traveling, you can keep the kit small and focus on things they’ll actually use in a carry-on.
Organized Travel Laptop Backpack | 20L
Rupt Trakard Smart Tracker Card
Rupt Slimzak Mini 5000mAh Powerbank
Custom Insert Card
Custom Mailer Box
For colder regions
If your new hire is starting somewhere cold, you can send things they can wear or use on the commute.
AS Colour Men’s Stencil Hoodie
AS Colour Cuff Beanie
Flagship Crew Socks
YETI Rambler 20 OZ Travel Mug W/ Stronghold Lid
Custom Insert Card
Custom Mailer Box
Real New Hire Kits to Take Inspiration From
If you want to see how other companies have built their new hire welcome kits, here are five examples we’ve helped put together.
Wise
Wise wanted new hires to have a consistent onboarding experience regardless of which office they joined. So Wise sends the same core swag across regions, which means someone starting in London can open the same kind of kit as a colleague starting elsewhere.
Turing
Turing needed to send matching kits to employees in the US and India. We used one approved kit design, then fulfilled 453 kits from a facility inside India and another 191 domestically in the US. Turing only needed one approval cycle, while we kept the fulfillment regional to help the team stay within budget. You can read how Turing shipped 644 matching kits.
Microsoft
Microsoft’s BIC team needed premium intern kits delivered before start dates in the US, Canada, and Ireland. We packed each kit with Sony headphones, a Thule backpack, and a Stanley mug, then dropshipped it directly to the recipient. You can read the full Microsoft intern kit case study.
Vectra AI
Vectra AI chose a fuller onboarding kit with a backpack, water bottle, blanket, socks, and several smaller branded extras. If you have more room in the onboarding budget, you can use that approach to give your new hire swag for several parts of their day instead of putting most of the spend into one item.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo built its kit around its mascot instead of sticking to the usual tee-and-notebook setup. If your company has a mascot or character that employees already know, you can use it to make the kit feel much more specific to your brand.
How does PerkUp handle new hire swag kits?
PerkUp handles the full new hire kit process, from helping you choose the swag and designing the packaging to production, kitting, warehousing, and shipping each box when someone starts. If you hire globally, our team also plans around regional availability so you’re not trying to force the same US-based kit into every country.
When you’re planning the swag kit, you can choose from 2.5 million bulk swag options and 1,000 On Demand swag items, including 176 premium brands like Patagonia, Bellroy, Osprey, Native Union, Tumi, and Stanley. Our in-house designers can help with your logo placement and packaging, too. And if you can’t find exactly what you want in the catalog, our custom sourcing team can find or make it and match your Pantone colors.
Once you approve everything, we produce and pack your full swag kits in bulk, then warehouse them until someone joins. We deliver through local distribution from our warehouses and suppliers in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Europe, India, China, Hong Kong, Australia, and Dubai, so we can store kits close to where you hire and send each one out as a local delivery from the nearest warehouse. If your kits are produced centrally, we bulk ship them into each region first, with PerkUp or its partners acting as the importer of record, so the import, duties, and customs are handled before the kits reach that warehouse. We also ship to 100+ countries, and any kit that crosses a border on its own goes out with duties prepaid wherever possible.
That regional setup also matters when you’re choosing the swag itself! You won’t be able to source or ship every item in every country, so our team checks availability before you order and recommends a local alternative when something won’t work. We see this most often in India, where imported apparel and some steel bottles can face restrictions. In those cases, we usually produce the kit inside India rather than importing it from another region.
You also don’t have to place a new order every time someone starts! You can simply connect your HRIS through one of our 200+ integrations, and you can use a new hire’s start date to trigger the shipment automatically. Your team sets up the program once, and we handle the recurring sends from there. You can use the same setup later for work anniversaries and other employee milestones like birthdays.
If you only need one item, have a smaller group that requires lower minimum quantities, or don’t know an employee’s apparel size yet, you can use On Demand instead. The listed price you see on the PerkUp website already includes the swag, decoration, shipping, taxes, and duties, with every available apparel size at the same rate.
And if a full kit doesn’t make sense for a particular employee, you can give them a budget in a swag store (which can carry both bulk and On Demand swag items) and let them choose their own swag, or send a digital gift card instead.
You can manage your event swag through the same PerkUp account. PerkUp is also a Pledge 1% member and partners with Stripe Climate, with part of every purchase going toward carbon removal.
Conclusion
Before your next group of employees starts, choose one main piece of swag, add a few smaller things they’ll actually use, and produce the kits early enough that they’re already waiting in the warehouse before the start date. Hiring doesn’t stop during the holidays, so you don’t want your team rebuilding the kit every time someone joins.
If you’re hiring across multiple countries, our team can help you plan a swag kit that works across regions.
Frequently Asked Questions About Employee Swag Kits
What are the best corporate swag kits in 2026?
The best corporate swag kits in 2026 usually combine one main item, such as a backpack or hoodie, with a few smaller things employees can use every day, like insulated drinkware, desk accessories, stickers, and a welcome card.
If you use PerkUp, our team can handle the kitting and branded packaging, store the finished kits, and send each one from the warehouse closest to the recipient.
What are the best platforms for onboarding swag kits?
If you’re comparing platforms for onboarding swag kits, look for one that can handle production, kitting, warehousing, and delivery, especially if you hire in more than one country. With PerkUp, you can build kits with things like tees, hoodies, drinkware, and desk swag, then store them until each employee starts. If you’re hiring internationally, we can also fulfill from regional warehouses and prepay duties wherever possible.
What are the top employee swag kit tools?
If you want to automate employee swag kits, look for a platform that can connect your HRIS data to the shipment. PerkUp connects with more than 200 integrations, so you can use a new hire’s start date to trigger their kit instead of asking someone on your team to place every order manually. You can use the same setup later for employee milestones such as work anniversaries.
What are the best new hire welcome kit companies?
If you’re comparing new hire welcome kit companies, look at how they handle kitting, storage, international fulfillment, and recurring sends rather than just the swag catalog. PerkUp can build custom welcome kits, store them in regional warehouses, and ship them to employees in more than 65 countries. Companies including Microsoft and Wise have used PerkUp for intern, onboarding, and global employee swag programs.
What are the best swag kit platforms?
If your employees are spread across several countries, look for a swag kit platform that can manage production, kitting, storage, regional fulfillment, and employee data in one place. With PerkUp, you can run new hire, work anniversary, newborn, and event kits through the same account and fulfill them through regional warehouses when available.
