Jakarta –
Economic uncertainty darkens the holiday season this New Year. If last year’s bonuses were plentiful, this year more companies will withhold year-end bonuses for employees.
CNN report on Friday (12/23/2022), according to survey data released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, shows the year-end bonus in the US will not experience a significant increase.
More than 81% of 252 employers said they wanted to break even the value of holiday bonuses at the same level as last year.
The problem is that surveys show that more and more companies will not pay out their year-end bonuses to employees at all. The survey showed that 27% of companies said they would not grant bonuses, up from 23% in 2021.
“Businesses are more concerned about an economic downturn or slowdown coming next quarter, and that is starting to show in some of these indicators,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president, Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The US economic condition itself is currently dogged by a crisis, commodity prices continue to skyrocket in the US. The Federal Reserve’s central bank (the Fed) has responded to the high inflation.
The Fed has carried out a series of extraordinary interest rate hikes. Well, efforts to reduce inflation have raised fears that a recession could ensue.
“It seems unlikely that next year will be as good as this year, just because this year is still very good,” Challenger said.
In recent months, a wave of layoffs has also begun in Uncle Sam’s country. Starting from the technology industry, from the media, to the real estate sector.
But overall, the job market remains very robust by historical standards. There are many more positions available.
“We were in the tightest job market in modern American history with the lowest firing rates, the highest wage increases, the most job openings, the most job stoppages,” Challenger said.
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