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Employees Bonus Expectations High In 2011, Cash Is King

Glassdoor Team — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:00:25 +0000

Employees are sending a clear message this holiday season: they expect a bonus and they want it to be cold, hard cash. And forget the holiday party, even with an open bar.

A new survey by Harris Interactive®[i] finds that the majority of employees say they would prefer a cash bonus this year (72 percent), followed by a salary raise (62 percent) and additional paid time off (32 percent).

Expectations for receiving a bonus are high this year: of those employed and eligible for a bonus, a full 58% say they expect an end of year windfall, and 20 percent expect it to be more than their last bonus, while 13 percent expect it to be less, and 22 percent are unsure. However, the check amount may not be quite as much as employees hope – Johnson Associates is reporting Wall Street bonuses may be down 20 – 30 percent over last year.

What Other Perks Make Employees Happy?

Employers who can’t afford a big handout need not worry – employees note that perks such as an extra day off or even a grocery gift card would be preferred. Save the chardonnay and shrimp cocktail, though — traditional holiday parties rate low this year, as a mere 4 percent of employees prefer this “perk.”

Male and Female Expectations

There are some stark differences in how male and female employees want to be recognized and rewarded at the end of the year – employers, take note!

Holiday Perks: More men (16%) said they would be interested in receiving company stock or shares as a holiday perk than women (6%), whereas more women (18%) said they would prefer the option to work from home for a year than men (11%). More women (29%) also prefer grocery gift cards over their male counterparts (18%).
Bonus Expectations: More men (74%) report being eligible for bonuses than women (69%). Among employees who are eligible to receive a bonus this year, nearly twice as many women (17%) report they are unsure of the bonus amount than men (7%) whereas more men (30%) than women (22%) expect their bonus to be the same as last year.

What’s going on at your company? Do you expect a bonus this year? Would you prefer other perks, like paid time off or a holiday party? Tell us what your job is like by sharing a company review and see what your peers are saying, too.

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[i] Survey Methodology

1) For the purposes of this study “employees” were defined as U.S. adults 18+ employed full time and/or part time unless otherwise indicated.

2) This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor from November 3-7, 2011 among 2,574 adults ages 18 and older of whom 1,495 are employed full time, part time and/or are self employed. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact pr[at]glassdoor.com.

Employees Bonus Expectations High In 2011, Cash Is King is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Labor Day Survey Reveals Holiday Is More About Summer’s End Than Workers

Glassdoor Team — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:28:58 +0000

More than 100 years ago when Labor Day was first created, it was built on the idea that this day would recognize and honor America’s workforce. Today, however, according to a recent Glassdoor survey, more Americans (59%) believe it symbolizes the end of summer, a day off (47%), and a time to be with family and friends (43%) rather than a celebration of American workers (41%). One in 10 thinks the holiday means nothing at all. And nearly one in five says it means the start of football season.

Perhaps the reason for this lies in the fact that many employees do not feel their employers reward or take note of their accomplishments on this day or any other day in the past year. The majority of employees (52%) report their employer has done nothing to reward their achievements in the past year. This aligns with what employees are saying on Glassdoor, with Recognition & Feedback as one of the lowest rated workplace attributes compared to seven of the other factors (see chart below).

So while many workers felt they had made certain achievements professionally in the past year (95%), only 41% said their employers celebrated those achievements. For example, 16% received praise privately, 13% reported that they were rewarded with extra time off, 12% got a raise and 11% got some type of gift. On top of this, nearly three in five (59%) report they are making the same or less than they were two years ago.

And for those who are unemployed but looking for a job, Labor Day is less about a day off than finding a job. More than half (53%) of unemployed job seekers plan to do something related to their job search this coming Monday: 50% plan to search for a job, 15% plan to update their resume, and 11% plan to go on a job interview.

So whether you plan on taking time to relax this Labor Day or stay up on your job search, take time to recognize your achievements (even if no one else does) and take time to recognize your co-workers and others who help make America’s workforce run.

What does Labor Day mean to you? Do you think we have strayed too far from the meaning of Labor Day?

Also take our Facebook poll: Have your work accomplishments been recognized or rewarded by your boss in the past year?

Labor Day Survey Reveals Holiday Is More About Summer’s End Than Workers is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Employed Layoff Survivors & Unemployed Cutting Back On Gifts, Travel & Parties This Season

Glassdoor Team — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:02:43 +0000

Extravagant office holiday parties? Sayonara. Unexpected expensive gifts? Those days are gone for now. Workplace gift exchanges among employees? This year, not so much.

Glassdoor released the findings from its holiday workplace survey today which highlights how those employed, affected by layoffs or other cost-cutting measures, and unemployed plan to tackle gifts, parties, travel and all that the season brings with it. As part of the Glassdoor survey of more than 2,250 people, we wanted to find out: What do people plan to cut back on this season compared to a typical holiday season? Bottom line: people are reducing gift budgets and plans to attend holiday parties and travel, even more so among employees who work for companies that have initiated or communicated layoffs in the past six months, which accounts for 27% of employed adults (1). Survey highlights include:

Gift Budgeting: More than half (52%) of those whose company has laid off or communicated layoffs in the past six months plan to cut back on budgets for gift purchases, compared to 40% of all employed adults.
Gift Exchanges: Gift exchanges will either be less common or less pricey: 28% of employed adults plan to cut back on gift exchanges with co-workers; whereas, 38% of those whose company has communicated layoffs in the past 6 months plan to do the same.
Gift Expectations: 50% of unemployed are not expecting gifts from others compared to 36% of those employed. Interestingly, more women (42%) report they are reducing their expectations for receiving gifts this season than their male counterparts (30%).
Company Parties: Fewer people will be attending company-sponsored holiday parties: One in five (19%) employees say they will cut back on attending company-sponsored holiday parties; the rate is highest among employees whose company has initiated/communicated layoffs in the past six months (25%)
Holiday Functions: And, holiday functions or events hosted by co-workers or colleagues are expected to be down; 15% of employed adults plan to cut back.

In addition, the survey points out how people are planning to cut back on travel and vacation plans. One in four plan to cut back on travel for getaways (27%) and travel to visit family and friends (26%). The reduction is highest among those currently unemployed but looking and employees who have survived layoffs — Among the unemployed, 36% report plans that they will travel less and 34% report they are cutting back on travel to visit family and friends.

What group do you fall in? Are you planning to make changes this season from what you have typically done?

(1) Harris Interactive^® fielded the survey on behalf of Glassdoor.com from September 17 to 21, 2009 via its QuickQuery^SM online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,257 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older, of whom 1,320 employed full/part time and/or are self employed. Data were weighted using propensity score weighting to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and propensity to be online. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated

Employed Layoff Survivors & Unemployed Cutting Back On Gifts, Travel & Parties This Season is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Survey Highlights Stress Effect of Unemployment; Tips to Counter

Glassdoor Team — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:17:14 +0000

We’ve all felt stress at work; however, in today’s environment, many are dealing with a whole new kind of stress that stems from rising unemployment and a competitive job market. According to the Bureau of Labor, unemployment in May was at 9.4%, and we’ll find out tomorrow if June looked any better. Harris Interactive¹ recently conducted a survey on behalf of Glassdoor.com that found two out of three people (69%) questioned are seeing that same work stress begin to affect other areas of their life, including relationships with family, friends and even their health.

We reviewed how stress between those employed² and unemployed varied, and documented in the chart below the specific areas that are impacted as a result of work or finding work. The largest differences between employed and unemployed are the effects on relationships with friends and family, and the fact that people have less time to enjoy things outside of work and find less excitement in things they typically enjoy.

Glassdoor Report: Stress Evaluation
What areas of your life has stress affected either due to work or finding work?
	Employed	Not Employed but Looking
Relationships	38%	43%
Lower self-esteem / confidence	18%	41%
Physical and/or emotional symptoms	36%	38%
Less excitement about I typically enjoy	29%	40%
Less time to enjoy things important to me outside of work	38%	21%

It’s also interesting to note that married people noted experiencing stress more often than single job seekers, 81% to 57% respectively. The survey found that the highest rates of stress associated at work or with finding work are reported among those 35-44 (78%), and men in the age bracket are affected in the following areas: physical symptoms from stress (47%), less time to enjoy things important to them outside work (47%), and less excitement about things they typically enjoy (42%). Men reported experiencing physical symptoms more often than women (47% vs. 41%).

So what can job seekers do to keep their head up and feel a little less stressed out? We offer this round up of suggestions from recent articles that have posted on the topic:

Dealing with Money Stress (About.com)
How to Manage Stress at Work (ehow)
How to manage stress now (ManagingStressNow.com)

In addition, here is some advice from our career and workplace expert, Rusty Rueff, who offers a supportive a straightforward perspective to those who have been laid off and are trying hard to stay financially afloat:

¹ The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Glassdoor.com between March 19- 23, 2009 via its QuickQuery^SM online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,798 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older, of whom 1,576 are employed full time or part time. The Q4 survey was conducted Dec.16-18, 2008 among 2,281 U.S. adults 18+ of whom 1,331 were currently employed (full time or part-time).This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. A full methodology, including weighting variables, is available.

² For the purposes of this study “employees” were defined as U.S, adults 18+ employed full time or part time unless otherwise indicated.

Survey Highlights Stress Effect of Unemployment; Tips to Counter is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

March was 15th Consecutive Month of Job Declines; Layoff Concerns Correlate to Lower Optimism and Company/CEO Ratings

Glassdoor Team — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:01:04 +0000

Today’s report on job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics should come as no surprise to those following the news of layoffs closely. March marks the 15^th consecutive month of job losses as unemployment rate rose to 8.5%, from 8.1% in February. With these new numbers, there are now 13.2 million people unemployed in the U.S.; that’s 16% of the population currently looking for a job. (If you’re one of those looking for work, check out Glassdoor.com’s career expert Rusty Rueff’s tips on competitive interviewing).

These ever-rising numbers, however, don’t seem to have the majority of workers worried about their own jobs. According to a recent survey we released yesterday, only 1 in 4 (26%) are concerned they may lose their jobs in the next 6 months. Are workers simply optimistic that things will get better, or is there a bit of denial taking place? While the government believes the unemployment rate will cap at 8.8%, others believe it’s more likely to reach 10% before things begin to turn around, which many believe will not happen until 2010.

At Glassdoor, we’ve certainly seen corresponding rise in layoff chatter in reviews as the unemployment rate has increased. Below are the companies with the highest percentage of reviews using the word “layoff” for companies with more than 100 reviews on Glassdoor.com.

Glassdoor Report: Highest rate of lay-off mentions in reviews
	Company Rating	CEO Name	CEO Rating	Percentage of Review with Lay-off Mentions
AOL	2.9	Tim Armstrong	N/A*	37.60%
Alcatel-Lucent	2.7	Ben Verwaayen	33%	32.40%
Nortel Networks	2.8	Mike S. Zafirovski	17%	31.90%
Sprint Nextel	2.8	Dan Hesse	43%	28.00%
LexisNexis	2.4	Andy Prozes	7%	27.10%
Ford Motor	3	Alan R. Mulally	65%	25.90%
Sun Microsystems	3.1	Jonathan L. Schwartz	25%	23.30%
CSAA Inter- Insurance Bureau	2.4	James R. Pouliot	13%	25.90%
Charles Schwab	3.3	Walt Bettinger II	33%	18.80%
Motorola	2.6	Greg Brown	10%	17.20%

What we’ve also found is consistent with the recent survey results – employees at companies that have already had layoffs tend to be less optimistic about pay raises and company outlook, and as Glassdoor.com data shows, the higher the layoff chatter rate, the lower the ratings for the company and CEO tend to be. The notable exception in the chart above is Ford Motor Co. where Mulally has a surprising 65% approval rating.

Anyone working for these companies have insights?

March was 15th Consecutive Month of Job Declines; Layoff Concerns Correlate to Lower Optimism and Company/CEO Ratings is a post from: Glassdoor Blog