Despite the challenging times, most of the companies (70%) participating in a recent survey by online recruiting platform eJobs said they would offer Christmas bonuses to their employees this year, mainly extra sums of money.

Only 7.5% answered firmly that they had not budgeted year-end bonuses, while 22.5% haven’t decided yet.

Over 64% of companies chose to offer cash bonuses, which is also the employees’ preferred gift, eJobs said. Meanwhile, 43% of employers will organize a year-end party for the whole team, and 28.6% will purchase baskets with specific seasonal products for all employees.

Other benefits mentioned by survey participants were gift vouchers, extra days off, holiday vouchers, and prize raffles.

“It has become a tradition for employers to mark the end of the year with such rewards for employees, and even if the packages’ value has fluctuated from one year to the next, it remained a custom that companies have not abdicated even in the most challenging years from an economic point of view,” said Ana Călugăru, Head of Communications at eJobs Romania.

“What we have also noticed is that the preference for certain types of bonuses remains relatively constant. For example, cash bonuses are the most valued by employees and therefore remain the most frequently offered,” she added.

Almost of third of respondents said that the holiday package will have a value of over RON 1,000 for each employee. A quarter allocated between RON 400 and RON 600, 14.3% between RON 200-400, and 3.6% between RON 800 and RON 1,000. About 21% will be limited to a budget between RON 100 and RON 200.

A quarter of the HR managers and department managers who participated in the survey said that the budget available this year was higher than last year, while 64.3% said it remained the same.

“[…] we also asked them what they would offer employees if they had no budget limit, in order to differentiate themselves in the market as a desirable employer during this period. 65% put the extra wages for all employees first, while the four-day working week came in second (mentioned by 52.5% of managers), with the program shortened to 32 hours per week,” Ana Călugăru said.

According to the same eJobs survey, 35% of respondents said that employees would like the benefits package extended to family members, while 30% believe that covering household expenses would be a popular incentive. The sabbatical period, nanny or housekeeper paid by the company would be two other benefits that Romanian employers would offer if they had a considerably larger budget.

The survey was conducted in October on a sample of 120 respondents - HR managers, department managers, team leaders and entrepreneurs.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Korn Vitthayanukarun/Dreamstime.com)