If your company did not issue bonuses at the end of 2011 then it is part of a growing trend in the United States. Challenger, Gray & Christmas released data from a survey it conducted about year-end bonuses. The data from their survey shows that 43 percent of companies did not issue year-end bonuses or other types of gifts to their employees at the end of 2011. In 2007, prior to the recession, saw 28 percent of companies fail to issue bonuses.
Half of the 53 percent of companies that issued bonuses gave their employees a non-monetary gift or a bonus that was less than $100. Then there were 31 percent of those companies that gave all of their employees bonuses based on the company’s performance. Then, 19 percent of companies issued bonuses to only specific employees based on performance. The bonuses issued by companies in 2011 were very similar to the bonus amounts issued by these companies in 2010.
The study released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas did show that employee morale can be boosted with simple gifts, even if the bonuses cannot be of large value. These bonuses can be as easy as $25 to a restaurant or a paid off day.