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11/21/04
WORKPLACE Forget about a frozen turkey or the extra check this holiday season, most US employers will be handing out gift certificates or year-end rewards tied to performance instead. Hewitt Associates, the Illinois benefits firm, reports that 63 percent of the nation's employers will not give out gratuitous yuletide bonuses. Instead, many will give performance rewards, also known as variable pay programs, which must be earned. According to Hewitt, performance-based bonuses continue to increase in popularity among US employers, rising to almost 80 percent in 2004, up from 59 percent in 1995. Ken Abosch, a business leader at Hewitt, noted that performance-based rewards were designed to ''help employees concentrate on company goals and objectives while eliminating entitlement issues that often arise with the holiday bonus.'' The Hewitt report, published last week, shows that some companies have never offered their workers a traditional holiday bonus. In all, 46 percent of the 271 companies polled said their workers have never received one, and 16 percent said they stopped offering one. Of those who stopped rewarding employees during the holidays, 54 percent discontinued the bonus in the 1990s and 43 percent said they decided to eliminate the benefit between 2000 and 2004, possibly because of the nation's unsteady economy. The firms Hewitt polled represented a broad spectrum, with the average reporting an overall staff of 11,258, according to spokesman Joe Micucci. Of those who discontinued the bonus, 65 percent said they stopped because they wanted to save money, 37 percent felt it was an entitlement program, and 28 percent said they simply decided to focus on developing a pay-for-performance rewards program. Forty percent said they never offered the bonus because it was too costly, 39 percent said they just never considered it, and 21 percent said offering a holiday bonus did not mesh with their corporate compensation policy or philosophy. ''Conversely, of the 37 percent of companies that will offer a holiday bonus program in 2004, nearly half - 49 percent - will provide retailer gift certificates,'' said Hewitt. Fifty-four percent of those companies said they will continue to give out holiday cash bonuses because they want to thank employees for their hard work or show their workers that they are appreciated, the survey found. Twenty-four percent said they do it because it has become a tradition they wish to maintain, and 17 percent feel the cash gifts are a morale booster. Pay-for-performance programs tend to reward high performers with lucrative incentives and they budget 10 percent of their overall payroll to accomplish that goal, according to Hewitt. By contrast, Hewitt said, companies awarding holiday bonuses reserve 1 to 2 percent of their payrolls for the gift. As a result, most cash holiday bonuses range from $25 to $550 per person. --DIANE E. LEWIS
SURVEY A national survey of 612 US investors who are still working reveals that 89 percent plan to continue to work after they reach retirement age. The survey by the Gallup Organization and the investment firm, UBS, also found that 56 percent of the retired investors surveyed said they went back to work for awhile after retiring. In all, 412 retired investors were interviewed by telephone. Of those who have not yet retired, 46 percent said they plan to continue to work in the same job or profession for as long as they are physically able. In all, 29 percent of the retired investors said they planned to continue working. Forty-seven percent of the employed investors said they would pursue a hobby as a way to make money after they retire, but will not necessarily start a full-fledged business. Thirteen percent of the retired investors agreed. Twenty percent of the employed investors expect to start their own business after they retire. Ten percent of the retirees said they are interested in starting a business. In addition, 15 percent of the employed investors plan to look for a new job compared with 9 percent of the retired investors. ''The reasons why investors intend to work after retirement have shifted slightly,'' reported the survey. ''Today, 35 percent of the employed investors intend to work after they retire at least, in part, because they will need the money. This percentage is up from 29 percent two years ago, and 27 percent in 1998.'' The report noted, however, that working after retirement might not be a viable option for most retirees. ''Many companies encourage or require their older workers to retire, not only to provide opportunities for younger workers, but also to reduce wage and benefit costs usually associated with older workers,'' said the researchers. Still, companies might find it beneficial to court older workers. According to federal statistics, the country will experience a 28 million shortfall of younger workers during the retirement of the oldest baby boomers. Together, those two trends could result in a labor shortage, say specialists. Meanwhile, the General Accounting Office has found that within the next two years there will be 151 million jobs and only 141 million US workers available to work. That deficit is expected to increase over the next 22 years as 76 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 leave the labor force. According to the GAO, however, only 48 million people under the age of 40 will be available to take jobs the boomers left behind. --DIANE E. LEWIS
LABOR RELATIONS Four individuals active in the field of labor relations were honored by the Labor Guild of Boston for their work on union-management issues at a dinner Friday at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The guild's annual Cushing-Gavin Awards honor men and women for ''excellence in labor-management relations, exemplifying moral integrity, professional competence and community concern,'' according to event co-chairs Jonathan Kraft, chief operating office of the Kraft Group, and Rick Charette, the president of United Food & Commercial Workers Local No. 1445. This year's recipients were:
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