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Companies Still Planning on Offering Holiday Perks in the Office, New CareerBuilder Survey Reveals

Some Organizations Report They Will Give Scaled Back Bonuses, Gifts and Parties

CHICAGO, December 10, 2009 - While companies have been forced to make some difficult decisions in 2009 relating to their overall businesses, they still plan to reward their current staffs with holiday perks such as bonuses, gifts and parties, but sometimes on a scaled back level. This is according to a recent CareerBuilder survey conducted among more than 3,000 hiring managers and HR professionals.


This holiday season, some employers will be more cautious than in past years when it comes to their fourth quarter giving:

Bonuses: Nearly three-in-ten (29 percent) employers plan to give their employees holiday bonuses this year. Among that group, 16 percent are planning to give the same amount as in previous years, while 11 percent plan to give less. Twelve percent of employers say they will not be issuing holiday bonuses even though they have in previous years.

Gifts: More than a quarter (26 percent) of employers plan to give holiday gifts, with 15 percent planning to spend the same amount for workers as in previous years. Eight percent plan to spend less, while another 8 percent say they are not planning to give holidays gifts in 2009, even though they have in years past.

Parties: Almost half (49 percent) of employers are planning a holiday party for their employees this year. Of that group, 30 percent plan to throw the same party as in previous years, while 18 percent are planning something on a smaller scale. One-in-ten (11 percent) employers don’t plan to have a holiday party in 2009 even though they have in previous years.

"After a challenging year, some organizations are cutting back on the holiday perks that they may have offered in previous years," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder. "Even though holiday bonuses, gifts and parties may be trimmed back this season, employers are doing what they can to reward their workers and get their staffs in the holiday spirit."

Haefner offers the following advice for workers encountering holiday cutbacks:

  • Be realistic in your holiday budgeting: If you’re anticipating a bonus this season, be sure to budget accordingly so that you can handle your financial obligations if your bonus is lower than in years past or is eliminated.

  • Volunteer as a group: While companies may not have the budgets to throw a holiday party this year, employees can suggest charity work as an alternative. Volunteering with your team or company still allows you to be out of the office in a social setting while giving back to your local community and maintaining your holiday spirit.

  • Don’t be a scrooge: Even if your company holiday party is cancelled, it doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate the season with co-workers. Office potlucks or casual get togethers are a great way to have a low-key celebration in the office with your colleagues.

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder.com between August 20 and September 9, 2009 among 3,163 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions; government and non-government). With a pure probability sample of 3,163 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.74 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset – their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 23 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 32 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing resources for everything from recruitment to employment branding and data analysis. More than 9,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder’s proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com