Some employees got a little something extra at work by way of a holiday bonus or gift this year—but fewer than in years past.
According to Aons Hewitt’s December 2015 Report of Findings—Holiday Bonuses and Gifts analysis, only 44 percent of surveyed employers planned to give traditional holiday bonuses, with the majority of those providing cash gifts. Most say their program is intended to say “thank you” and show appreciation.
The survey was conducted in November among large U.S. employers (those with more than 200 employees; the median staff size was 500 employees).
“Companies want to thank employees for their hard work at the end of the year and are willing to do so through small gifts and cash bonuses,” said Ken Abosch, Aon Hewitt’s broad-based compensation practice leader, in Chicago. “Yet we’ll continue to see most allocate the majority of their compensation budgets toward programs that are more structured and focused on rewarding high-performers.”
