'Tis the season for gift-giving, as we are constantly reminded in the runup to Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and now, even Giving Tuesday. And corporations are doing just that this year, although their employees might not be too pleased with the list of recipients.

According to the 2018 Holidays at Work Survey from Spherion Staffing Services, 46 percent of employee respondents say that their companies will participate in charitable activities/give back to the community this holiday season. Topping the list of actions are food/clothing/toy/other drives (51 percent), followed by company volunteer events (18 percent) and adopting a needy family or child (15 percent).

And while employees want companies to do more for the communities they inhabit (in fact, according to Spherion's Emerging Workforce Study, 63 percent of employees surveyed only want to work for companies that contribute to communities they care about and help better the world), that doesn't mean that they don't want companies to remember their workers, too.

And according to research from Robert Half, 67 percent of professionals said a company's participation in charitable activities has an influence on their decision to work there. And young worker respondents—ages 18-34 (81 percent)—most often stated that an organization's philanthropic efforts are a factor in their decision to be employed there.

According to the report, 52 percent of employees describe the holidays at their workplaces as “business as usual,” while 36 percent say their companies are “generous” around the holidays and 13 percent say their companies are “stingy” during the holidays.

That bears out the findings of another study—this time from the Advertising Specialty Institute—that finds that although companies plan to reward more employees this year, they're cutting the dollars used to do so while raising the amount they plan to spend on gifts for clients. End result: sticking to last year's budget, which means employees are getting cheaper gifts (last year the average cost per employee was $79; this year the average is expected to be down $14, to $65 apiece).

What companies are doing is this: 46 percent of companies surveyed offered paid time off this year for community service, compared with just 26 percent who did so in 2015. In addition, other perks employees might be getting from the boss include a holiday party (36 percent); extra time off (28 percent); a holiday bonus (26 percent); office closure between Christmas and New Year's Day (22 percent); a company-paid holiday meal (18 percent); or an employee gift exchange (18 percent).

But considering that community service issue, Robert Half also asked how managers and employees feel about their current corporate social responsibility programs. Enthusiasm is not running all that high, with 37 percent of senior managers saying their company is doing more than enough, 40 percent saying it's doing enough and 23 percent saying said it could do more. In addition, 35 percent of workers felt their employer is doing more than enough, 44 percent said it's doing enough and 21 percent felt their employer could do more.

More great reads to get you into a holiday mood:

Instant Insights /

Corporate holiday giving focused on customers, community, not employees

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