The Holiday Bonus Trends for 2024 Paint an Interesting Picture

Curious about the holiday bonus trends for 2024? We hear that employees are willing to quit if their employers skip one this year.

The Christmas and New Year combo is a heavy hitter for most individuals, marking a time filled with shopping expenses and peak spending on yearly indulgences. Many employees rely on their holiday PTO’s and bonuses to help them prepare for the expenses in the new year, and so companies giving holiday bonuses are preferred to those that don’t.

While handing a bonus or an extra reward during the holiday season is not often part of the explicit contract between employers and employees, most workers do expect to receive some form of a reward at the end of the year. For some workers, a small—or a big—monetary bonus is good enough, while for others, an alternate form of compensation works just fine.

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Holiday Bonus Trends 2024—3 in 5 Companies Plan to Hand Out Holiday Bonuses

A new employee holiday bonus survey by Agital found that only 42% of employees expect to receive a cash holiday bonus this year, which shows that a larger number of them aren’t expecting their employers to meet their expectations. In contrast, about 60% of employers stated they were going to offer up a cash holiday bonus.

The survey on employee holiday bonuses also found that employers in the construction, finance, and technology sectors were the most likely to give out holiday cash bonuses this year, which is unsurprising. Additionally, most employers have a fixed-dollar amount in mind for the holiday bonuses for all employees, which is preferable as tying the bonus to performance at this stage can detract from the experience of a bonus.

The study also found that the most common amount offered as a bonus falls between $101 and $250. Employers in the law and legal sector can expect the most generous of bonuses with the average between $2,501 and $5,000. The finance industry comes next in the lineup, but the average bonus ranges between a slightly more modest $501 to $1,000, in comparison.

From the holiday bonus trends identified for 2024, it’s apparent that employees have a much lower expectation from the reality of what employers are willing to offer. With that said many employers appear to be planning to skip on providing a cash bonus.

Understanding What Employees Want for Christmas

Our exploration of the holiday bonus trends for 2024 won’t be complete until we discuss what employees are looking forward to this Christmas. While cash bonuses hold the top spot as the nicest, safest option, employees aren’t planning to be too picky if there is an alternative. The survey found that if a cash bonus wasn’t an option, then additional paid time off would be the most preferred alternative for 77% of employees. 

Next on the list of options is an end-of-the-year gift like some nice electronics or physical rewards. Employees would also settle for an additional benefit like a gym membership or a professional development stipend. Just like with benefits available to employees throughout the year, more cash takes top priority, but an alternate benefit may also work in a pinch. 

Cash bonuses work best because a large number of the receivers put it towards purchasing holiday gifts for their loved ones. Holiday shopping can be very expensive, but most also don’t want to be stingy with gifts and end up overextending their resources to buy the gifts they want. Those who don’t put the money towards gifts primarily put it into savings or pay off their debts, both of which help with their financial health in the long run.

Employee holiday bonuses are a good way to boost the morale of the organization and leave employees feeling better about the upcoming year. When employers embrace the “season of giving,” they find employees more willing to give back. Some employees, at least 34% of them, are also willing to start looking for a new job if they’re let down by a lack of bonuses, so for the sake of the organization and the employee, it’s best to ensure you hand out some bonuses to your teams.

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