Over 4 in 5 employees expect to receive a bonus in 2019: survey

1 in 3 employees are willing to ditch their jobs without a bonus.

More than eight in 10 or 83% Singapore-based employees are expecting to receive a bonus in 2019, of which 69% are anticipating an annual bonus between one to two months, according to Randstad’s 2019 bonus expectations survey. This is significantly more than the 52% of employees who expected a bonus in 2018.

The survey, which polled more than 100 employers and 400 locally-based professionals across various disciplines, found that almost two in three employees (64%) said that bonuses are important to them, but it is not the only factor that would make them start considering the possibility of a new opportunity with a new employer. The other 36% of respondents said they would start looking for a new job if they did not receive a bonus in 2019.

Of the 36% who would look for a new job if they did not receive a bonus, 78% of respondents were found to be from the banking and financial services industry, with the remaining 22% working in the construction, property and engineering sectors.

Meanwhile, Randstad found that there were unaligned bonus expectations between employees and employers. Singapore-based companies were said to have plans to share profits with their staff this year in an effort to boost employee morale. More than eight in 10 companies (82%) surveyed had planned for a bonus payout in 2019.

“This is a 2-point dip from the 84% that gave out bonuses in 2018,” the firm noted.

Out of the companies that are giving out bonuses in 2019, 81% said that the employees should expect a bonus averaging between one month and two months. Whilst 27% of respondents surveyed are expecting an annual bonus averaging three to five months, only 17% of the employers surveyed indicated that their bonus payouts meet that expectation.

“To retain their valued employees, managers need to ensure that they are providing adequate support to their staff. Make use of regular meetings to understand some of the challenges that the team is facing and resolve those challenges together,” Dass noted, adding that employees should also feel that they are able to share their viewpoints and feedback freely with their co-workers.