I’m generally a skeptic when people point to signs that are supposed to show that the economy is getting better, but here’s a sign that’s pretty hard to deny: companies have started giving holiday and year-end bonuses again.
A Year-End Holiday Practices Survey of HR executives at 300 U.S. employers by publisher BNA, found that 41 percent of companies “will give employees some type of year-end gift or bonus this holiday season, up significantly from the historical low of 33 percent of employers who did so in 2009.” And they add that, “this marks a reversal of a three-year decline in holiday gift giving.”
The survey also found that company-sponsored holiday celebrations are up (76 percent say they will hold one, compared to a 10-year low of 67 percent in 2009), that more employers will allow spouses or guests to attend such celebrations (52 percent compared to 47 percent last year), and that more organizations will participate in charitable activities this holiday season (64 percent versus 59 percent in ’09).
The fact that companies are giving holiday bonuses and year-end gifts again is certainly a big plus given that Hewitt reported last year that only 24 percent of organizations were giving bonuses at Christmas 2009, down from 42 percent at Christmas 2008.
And, despite how tough a year that 2010 has been in so many ways, even the negative rhetoric seems to be down somewhat, too.
Last year, I blogged about a Wall Street Journal story on how to cope with a less-than-hoped-for or non-existent bonus. It was a real sign-of-the-times story, and although some of the advice from the “experts” quoted by the Journal seemed off base, the comments attached to the story by readers were spot-on given how terrible Christmas 2009 seemed for so many.
As I noted then:
Actually, the comments from readers on the Journal’s how-to-cope-with-a-bad-bonus story were the best part of it, and here’s one from somebody named “Dave Heller” that jumped out at me:
“This year your possession of a job is your bonus. If you can’t figure that out, 10,000 souls are waiting to slide right into your seat. Let’s have a sense of perspective here. It won’t be long before salary cuts will be the norm across America. We can’t expect to all get wealthy by selling each other financial services and hamburgers. As a nation, we don’t make anything anymore except debt.”
The fact is, “Dave Heller” is right. As much as we can all bitch and moan about the lack of a holiday bonus this year, those of us gainfully employed should feel happy to just have a job given the millions in America who don’t.
Yes, we’re all singing the Christmas bonus blues, I’m afraid, and as much as I hate saying it, the best way to cope with this fact is with advice you already know: Appreciate your job, keep plugging, and know that like with all things in life, even this Big, Bad Recession must eventually pass too.”
A year later, those words of wisdom seem to be spot on. The worst of the Big, Bad Recession has passed, and things seem like they are starting to get a little better, as my colleague John Zappe points out over on ERE. Add this BNA holiday practices survey into the mix, and you get a sense – finally – that perhaps we are starting to see some real and sustainable economic movement.
That would be a holiday bonus we all can celebrate.
Of course, there’s more than holiday bonuses in the news, and here are some other workplace-related news items you may have missed this week. Yes, this HR blog is a weekly round up of news, trends, and all sorts of information from the world of HR and talent management. I do it so you don’t have to.
